Rising Tide
by Mrs.IanOshea
Summary: Claire has grown up with Quil by her side but as she gets older she begins to find he is hiding something from her. But in her pursuit she'll meet with new friends. But will Quil always be there? Will hope never die? AU not following BD!
1. First Impressions

_**A/N: Hey guys this is my first FF, I love writing so hopefully you'll think this is good. Read on**_**!**

**Chapter One: First Impressions**

_Like the rising tide. Beating hearts grow but never die. To simplify. I'll stand by your side. Close my eyes. Hope will never die.Anonymous_

QUIL POV

I'll never forget that day. The pack and I had just come off patrol, we were chasing the red headed leech that had been threatening Bella, Jake was determined on catching her for Bella's safety. We were tired and hungry so we made our way over to Sam and Emily's house, a tiny cottage located out in the middle of the woods, in the remotest area of La Push. The place was tiny but it had the feeling of home. The outside was painted a light blue and white shutters along the glass windows. The front porch was surrounded by flower beds and wind chimes sounded in the wind. Trees surrounded the house and it was quiet and serene. We all jostled into the cottage and slumped on the couches. Warm smells tickled my nose...Emily's cooking...mmmm. I couldn't wait to grab a bite. The other guys sat on the couch and flicked the small tv on, and tuned it to the sports channel. They began to talk about plays and games and scores, I was about to join in when my stomach growled loudly. They all laughed at me due to them being able to hear almost anything because of their hearing abilities of werewolves.

I lifted myself off the couch and prepared to head to the kitchen when it struck me as I looked down. I felt like I had been hit with a ton of bricks. I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I felt like my heart was about to leap out of my chest. I stared directly down into the big deep chocolate brown eyes of the little girl in front of me. She was tiny, and had curly brown hair. Her skin was tanned, and she wore pig tails and a t-shirt and jeans. She pointed a chubby finger at me and smiled. That smile meant the world to me! I would do anything to make her smile. I could stare into her eyes for hours on end, the deep brown pools seemed as if they would never end.

Emily entered into the living room giving me a strange look as my eyes were glued to the tot. "Quil I would like you to meet my niece.." she turned to pick the child up, my eyes followed her every move. "this is Claire, she is two will be staying with us this summer, her parents live at the Makah reservation."

Claire. The name of my angel. So beautiful. So pure. My eyes still hadn't un-glued from her. She began to suck her thumb and look at me shyly. She then buried her face into Emily's shoulder and giggled. That sound, it was glorius. I would do anything to make her laugh. A huge smile plastered on my face at that moment. Butterflies flew rapidly in my stomach. It was like gravity, pulling me towards her. This time it was Sam giving me the strange looks. Then it all snapped into place.

"Quil..." he said nervously "I think we need to talk."

"Just a minute.." I replied. It hit me...I had just imprinted.

"Oh my gosh," I said in a whisper. "Did I...?"

"I think you just did," Sam said matter of factly.

On a two year old? My mind was going crazy. No this isn't right. I quickly ran out the front door forgetting all of my worries. I stripped off my clothes as I ran in human form, I was still trembling from fear, and I quickly phased. I just ran, for me running was the best therapy. How would this work out? A two year old I thought to myself. I called myself every name in the book, pedophile, sicko. But I began to think, the love I have for Claire now is not like that of Sam and Emily. I love her now like she is my own child. Someday I will love her as a brother. Someday I would love her as a friend. Someday I would love her as a girlfriend. And someday I would hopefully love her as my wife, my equal and partner and life. I ran for a while until Sam's thoughts entered my head. I was still a mess, but I had sorted most things out.

"Quil it's ok, it will all work out, I promise."

I hoped...and prayed that it would all work out, but for now I needed to be alone. My feet..er paws hit the ground creating a rhythm as I ran. I ran and ran until I sorted it all out. 'This will work' I thought to myself. This was the beginning of a long road.

_**A/N: Sorry for the short chappie, the next few I will try to make longer, like I said this is my first fan fic so go easy on me, plus TAKS tests are driving me nuts. REVIEW and let me know what you like and didn't like, and what you think the next chapter should be..any ideas would be great! **_


	2. Quilly and ClaireBear

**Chapter 2: Quilly and Claire-Bear**

_And when I wake up...I'm still surprised at how much my love grows for you with each passing day--Anonymous_

**QUIL POV**

I ran until I began to tire out. The patrols Sam had us on here lately got me tired. Plus the initial shock of actually imprinting put only more stress on me. Not to mention that my stomach was practically screaming at me to be fed. I decided that I had enough time to think, so I made my way back to Same and Emily's house.

I kept in my wolf form as my paws hit the ground. Each step brought me closer to the tiny blue cottage and her. Still about a mile away I could smell the warm smells of Emily's home cooked food and the scent of home. Once I neared the forest around the house, I submerged into the trees making sure no one could see me. I quickly phased back to human form and threw my clothes on which were securned to me by a bungee stap fastened around my ankle. I walked the rest of the distance to the cottage. I could hear Claire's tiny squeals of delight. My heart pounded in my chest at the thought of seeing her again. The butterflies took full flight.

I carefully stepped upon the porch and opened the front door without knocking and ventured in. After walking no more than two steps a little head covered with brown curly hair was bobbing towards me. She quickly ran into me and began hugging my legs with all her might. I sunk down to her level and scooped her up in my arms and hugged back. She was so tiny and fragile. Words cannot express the love that I felt for that little girl. My angel. I loved her like I was her own father.

"Well.." started Emily "since we didn't get started off on the right foot the first time let's start over again." "Claire this is Quil...Quil this is Claire."

Claire looked up at me. I found myself drowning in her deep chocolate brown eyes. They seemed like they went on forever...the windows to her soul. She studied my expression before saying very softly, "Quil". But what she said, it sounded more like "Twil". But either way I would take it, my heart leaped at the sound of my name, which she repeated and began to grin wildly. Emily stood against the door frame in the front hallway that connected to the living room. Her smile was as big as mine and Claire's.

I was still holding Claire tight in my arms as her head pressed into my shoulder. She acted so shy. I leaned down and tenderly kissed her head. Just then the pack busted through the back door. I was greeted with a chorus of "Awws" and cat calls.

"Oh shut up you guys, let Quil enjoy his moment," remarked Jake.

"Our little Quilly has finally grew up," Jared said in an annoying voice.

Really, there were no secrets in the pack, so everything I felt and everything that happened was laid out on the table for all to see. But they were my brothers truly.

"Congratulations," Sam simply said "you and I need to talk though." He made hand motions pointing to himself and then me.

I carefully set my Claire Bear down and she scampered off in the direction of the kitchen in following behind Emily. She squealed and giggled in delight all the way there. Her chubby feet made a pitter patter against the tile. I just sat there in her trance. This little girl absolutely mystified me. Just then my stomach reminded me that it was dinner time. I followed everyone into the kitchen and Emily fixed me a hot bowl of soup as I sat down at the table. The pack was having a meeting concerning meeting with the Cullens. Apparently we had a whole army of newborn vampires on us now. 'Great' I thought to myself. Bella sure was a danger magnet...I just hoped Claire wasn't like her.

After I finished my dinner and the meeting was over, I followed Sam outside, since he needed to talk to me. I had a feeling what this 'talk' was and I groaned as he took a seat on the rusty patio furniture. He and I both took a deep breath preparing for this 'talk'.

"Quil.." he started "I just want to set some guidelines here, with your...er...relationship with Claire."

"Ok" I simply said. I knew this was coming for me.

"I just want you to know that she is my only and favorite niece, so if you ever break her heart or hurt her in any way, I'll break your face." he threatened.

"I don't think you need to worry about that, I will take care of her and she will always be happy with me." I said matter of factly.

"Second of all I am setting the boundaries for you guys now and these are orders. One no sex until she's 18. Two no dating or boyfriend non sense until she is 16. Three...the day she turns 16 you have the right to let her know the secret."

"Yes sir." I gave him a fake salute and he chuckled at me.

The guidelines were fair enough. I would be counting the days until my angel turned 16, when I could finally let her know who the real me was. Until then, I'd be playing My Little Pony and Barbie dolls. But to me that was perfectly fine, as I would do anything to make my Claire Bear happy, for she was the light in my life and the air that I breathed and now she consumed my every thought.

**A/N: Ok guys I hope you like the chappie. Pretty please review...just for me? It would really make my day, plus I'd love some advice. Thanks to whoever added me to their alerts...you know who you are lol. I am glad you like the story :D ok dudes peace out. More will be posted this weekend.**


	3. Meet the Parents

**A/N: Thank you to all that reviewed, I appreciate the criticism and I will continue to work on my errors until I only get better Review some more all of you pretty please, I need your opinions so I can make my writing better!! Oh and please please do excuse the spelling errors, all I have on the laptop is word pad and I am proofreading myself at the moment since I'm not really tech savvy here lol. Read On! Oh and before I forget, I own nothing, Stephenie does!**

**Chapter 3: Meet the Parents**

_The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, and that's what you've given me--Anonymous._

**QUIL POV**

I walked off the back porch after the talk Sam and I had. I entered through the back door, the screen door slammed as I walked in. I wiped my feet on the rug and quietly made my way into the living room. I heard Claire's screams of delight as I walked in. I smiled. After she ran towards me and back to where a battlefield of My Little Ponies and Barbie dolls were scattered about. Hell if I were GI Joe I'd be in paradise there were so many Barbies!

I took a seat on the floor as she carried a brunette Barbie to me. She was unclothed and her hair a mess. Claire handed me a tiny pink brush. My angel was so smart! I brushed through the Barbie's messy hair and then picked an outfit. Claire and I played My Little Pony and Barbie until she just crashed.

Emily scooped the sleeping child up and carried her to her room. She gently put her down into the crib. I stayed and watched her sleep peacefully. It still amazed me how something so tiny could have this affect on me. I was interrupted by Sam entering the room. He gave me a look and I knew it was time to go. I blew my Claire Bear a kiss and silently left the room.

I followed Sam down the stairs and into the living room, and finally into the kitchen. The whole pack sat at the large oak table. I took a seat in between Jake and Embry. We were all smashed together but the cottage was small for our standards anyways.

"It's about time lover boy!" Jared said jokingly.

"Shut up Jared," I replied.

"Hey, guys stop this," Sam said finally taking charge of the meeting.

Jake began, "As you guys know we're not only facing the red headed leech now, there's more. The psychic blood sucker...I think her name is Alice...said that there's close to twenty now. The numbers have been going up and down since the newborns tend to fight amongst themselves. Apparently the red headed leech has been making new vampires left and right until she's made this army. She is after Bella since Edward killed her mate, she's going mate for mate."

I shivered at this. If anyone had ever harmed my Claire so help me I'd rip them into pieces.

"So since the style of fighting these new vampires will be different, the Cullens will be meeting in the meadow with us to teach us how to fight. We'll all work together in order to get rid of these bloodsuckers and protect Bells." Jake said cutting me away from my thoughts.

"So we'll have this practice now?" asked Paul.

"Yes," Jake simply replied.

We all got up from the table and made our way to the door and outside, we headed for the meadow. I thought about Claire the whole way there. I thought about our future until we finally reached our destination.

My nose wrinkled in disgust as I smelled the horrible scent of _leech._ We all stayed in our wolf form, and the mind reading bloodsucker, Edward, served as our translator.

After a long night of practice, we all went home, or I went to Sam and Emily's small blue cottage. I had been sleeping there since, just crashing on the couch. I never wanted to leave my Claire Bear's side. Sam and I both slumped through the front door and immediately crashed. I fell on the couch and he leaned back in his recliner. Before I even had time to count sheep I was snoring. I was dreaming of her.

--

After we had awoken that morning, Sam and I both sat up on the couch and began talking.

"You know one thing I really hated to do after I imprinted on Emily?" he inquired.

"What?" I said, growing curious.

"Meeting the Parents." he said.

Holy shit!! I never thought about that. They would think I was some sort of freak! Some pedophile after their daughter. I was suddenly very worried. I began to breathe heavy and my heart was pounding so fast. My stomach dropped as well as my jaw.

"Quil it's alright buddy, it'll all work out man." Sam tried to persuade me. I always loved the fact that he was such a mellow and easy going person. The type of person who saw the glass as half full.

"They'll think I'm some sort of pedophile though." I replied.

"I'm sure they'll understand, they already know about the pack because of Emily, so they will most likely accept it." he won me over this time, this made me feel a lot better.

"Oh and by the way," he added "her parents will be here in a week."

A week. Wonderful. I used that week to prepare myself for what I thought was coming.

--

"Hello it's nice to meet you Quil," Claire's mother greeted me with a hug.

"Hey there Quil," Claire's father reached out and shook my hand, only to release it quickly due to the heat. My body was pretty hot already from being nervous and worried.

We all took seats on the cushioned sofas in Sam and Emily's living room.

"We need to talk," Sam stated.

"What about?" both of Claire's parents replied.

"While Claire was here, she and Quil experienced something that is sacred to our pack, it's called imprinting," Sam said.

Both of Claire's parents exchanged looks and held each other's hands. They both knew what imprinting was, since they knew about Sam and Emily. They were worried.

"What exactly does this mean for their...relationship?" Claire's father asked.

"Well it's like this," I began "I do love her, but it's not like the love Sam and Emily share, right now it's more like fatherly love, I love her like she's my own child, and some day I will love her like a brother, and as a friend, and when she is older, and has grown to be an adult, I hope to love her in a romantic way, if she will have me, but this is all up to Claire."

Wow. Did I ever mention that this was such and uncomfortable topic to talk about? Claire's parents both sighed in relief, thankful I wasn't some creepy pedophile and I was glad that they let me explain myself. This had been easier than I had expected.

"Well son, it takes a lot to stand up and do all this, and we really do see how much you love our daughter, and we accept this," Claire's father stated.

"Welcome to the family," Claire's mom hugged me tightly.

The rest of the evening was spent having casual conversations. Claire's parents also thought it would be smarter to move to La Push from the Makah reservation too. For this I was glad, my angel would be even closer to me now, where I could protect her and spend time with her.

During all of this conversation, the newborn army had slipped my mind. We were to fight tomorrow, for this I was glad, I knew my Claire Bear would not be in La Push at the time of the fight, for she was leaving tonight.

Her bags were all packed and waiting by the front door, and she finally awoke from her nap she had been taking earlier while we discussed the situation. I hugged her and kissed her before handing her over to her mother. She softly said 'Twil' over and over again as they left. A single tear rolled down her cheek as I comforted her.

Her mother and father bid us their good byes and said they'd be back next week for a visit and to go house hunting. Then they left.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, hopefully you like the chapter. Pretty please review and give me some criticism or praise either is appreciated. Also I am writing the next chapter as two year old Claire and then I may skip ahead a few years or so...thanks for reading!!**


	4. Wars and House Hunting

**A/N: Thanks to XVampWitchCatX and bays1...you guys have been awesome! I will continue to write as you continue to enjoy! **

**Chapter 4: Wars and House Hunting**

_And I'd still be waiting when all this starts fading. It's true you don't even know how much I need you--Reggie and The Full Effect_

**QUIL POV:**

"That damn bloodsucker. Shit!. Damn again! Holy hell it hurts!" Jacob cried out in pain. "Son of a bitch!"

"Geez Jake take a chill pill," Embry said as he took a seat next to Jake on the bed.

"I'll tell you what you can do with your damn chill pill, Call, you can take it and shove it up your a-s-s," Jake yelled back as he threw a pillow aimed for Embry, who in turn ran out of the room. The pillow hit the wall and landed on the floor softly. Jake was a tyrant when he didn't feel well. This time Jake had been severely hurt in the vampire war. Leah being such a dumb ass decided to take on a newborn all by herself, when she is a new werewolf, she got in trouble and Jake had to save her. He was a real hero, even though we could have survived without her, always bringing things up. Like Sam...or the fact that Embry's dad or mom is not Quileute.

Interrupting my thoughts, Dr. Carlisle Cullen walked in to examine Jake, I left the room, the smell of leech invaded my nostrils and made my stomach turn. I was glad that my Claire Bear wasn't here during the war, I would have been worried sick the entire time.

I walked into the tiny living room inside Billy and Jake's cabin, Embry was already seated on the couch. I took a seat next to him.

"Had enough of Jake the tyrant yet?" he asked.

I just chuckled.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" he asked.

"Well," I started "nothing for today but tomorrow Claire will be here with her parents and we're going house hunting."

"Oh" was all he said. I felt sorry for Embry because he was one of the pack who still had yet to imprint, or much else have a relationship.

Finally after just sitting in silence, well not really silence but just hearing Jake cuss ever five seconds, I got off the couch and headed home, by now it was already dark.

When I finally arrived back at the small place Embry and I owned together, I showered and immediately crashed. I knew I'd need plenty of energy for tomorrow.

--

I woke up early that morning and got ready and headed out to Sam and Emily's house. All of us were going house hunting for a new house for Claire and her family. I had been browsing all week when I could for houses nearby all of the pack. We all lived near each other, within a couple of miles radius. There were three houses on the market I circled in the ads to look at.

We arrived at house number one, which was about 5 miles from me and just a mile or two from Jacob, but Claire's parents ruled it out, due to some much needed interior work.

House number two didn't prove much better, this house was close to 9 miles from me and a mile or two from Paul, but it was much too small for their taste and it didn't have a very big backyard.

Finally house number three, it was 2 miles from me, and about 2 miles from Emily and Sam, it was a wonderful house, big spacious backyard and nice bedrooms and a modern kitchen. Claire's parents decided quickly that it was 'the one'. They contacted the real estate agent and put in an offer. All we had to do was wait now.

--

After three days, the owner of the house finally got back to Claire and her parents, and they had a deal. They had purchased the house and were officially moving to La Push now. I was excited as a kid on Christmas morning. My angel would be so close to me now.

**A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter, there will be longer chapters in the future since I'm going to be skipping ahead a few years, but updates won't be as often due to school, but there will be a couple this week ok my awesome peeps, read and review and rock on!**


	5. Birthdays

**A/N: Sorry for being so slow...read on! **

**Chapter 5: Birthdays**

_I'm falling even more in love in with you. Letting go of all I 've held onto. I'm standing here until you make me move. I'm hanging by a moment here with you.--Lifehouse_

**QUIL POV; CLAIRE AGE 12:**

Many years had passed since my angel had moved into La Push. For one she was now permanently glued to my hip. Two she had begun to get older. We had spent many summers together down on First Beach and riding in my truck. Many nights spent watching movies on my old worn out couch and spending time with the pack. Bloodsuckers hadn't really been a problem lately so I spent a lot more time with my Claire Bear.

Today was the day of her twelfth birthday, and I was excited. I had asked Jake to carve a chocolate brown wolf to make a necklace out of for Claire. One like Jake had given to Bella which she had worn on her bracelet. I went by Jake's place this morning and picked up the carving and it was beautiful. I took the leather cord which I had worn around my neck forever and threaded it through the jump ring Jake had attached to the wolf. It was perfect, and hopefully Claire would think of me every time she saw it, and hopefully when she was older she would understand my gift.

I dug around in the hall closet for some gift wrap to wrap the piece of jewelry. Finally when finding it, I delicately wrapped the necklace up and placed it inside a tiny gold box. I added a pink bow on top and signed the card to go with it. Earlier this morning I had some flowers sent to Claire's house knowing that she would enjoy them.

At twelve I made my way over to Sam and Emily's tiny blue cottage for the birthday. Of course all the pack was there, plus Claire's friends and other family so it was packed **(A/N: no pun intended). **I placed my gift upon the table that held all the presents and made my way to the kitchen. Emily gave me a smile and returned to her work. She was finishing up the cake she hade made for Claire. Chocolate with pink icing and purple flowers. It simply said 'Happy Birthday Claire!'. I made my way out of the kitchen and onto the patio, where Sam and the rest of the pack were out cooking hot dogs **(A/N: Again no pun intended) **on the pit. Everyone sat in a circle of chairs and most had a beer in hand.

"Hey lover boy I see you finally made it to the party," Jared said.

"Hey I'm not the only lover boy around here, Kim's in the kitchen," I simply said back, and with that he darted away to find his imprint.

"Yo toss me one of those," I said to Embry, as he reached into the cooler and tossed me a beer, I caught it and twisted the top off taking a swig.

I sighed. Claire still wasn't here and I missed her like everything, it had been two days since I had seen her. Basically my whole world revolved around her.

"She should be here any minute Quil, patience," Sam said placing his hand on my shoulder. He was always the most understanding and he felt my pain. I chuckled at his appearance just now noticing. He sported an apron that said 'Kiss the Cook' and wore a white chef hat. With the hand not placed on my shoulder he held a spatula.

At that moment I heard a car pull up in the driveway. Gravel crunched underneath its tires. I heard a door slam, and I got up and ran to it. I could smell her...my Claire Bear. Finally I saw her. She was so beautiful, she wore a green striped top and blue jeans, and she ran to me.

"Quil!!" she screamed and ran. I caught her in a death grip hug. I kissed her forehead.

"I missed you Claire Bear," I said. I meant every single word.

"Me too, I'm glad to see you," she replied. I sat her down and she ran into the house.

"It's nice to see you Quil," Claire's mom smiled and greeted me.

"Nice to see you too, Kathy," I said in return. She gave me a hug and followed behind Claire.

I went inside of the house following behind them. After a while of socializing and talking we sat down to eat. Shortly after we had cake. Emily bent over the table, somewhat, being that she was very pregnant, and lit ten candles.

"Don't spit on the cake," Jared said. He was always the joker. Claire simply rolled her eyes.

"Make a wish Claire Bear," I said. She looked up to me and smiled, and then blew out the candles.

"Don't tell anyone what your wish was or it won't come true," Embry cautioned.

"Present time!" Emily called after everyone got a piece of cake. We all made our way to the living room at the mound of presents. Claire had decided to save mine for last. She simply whispered in my ear "I'm saving the best for last."

She opened several boxes containing clothes, she received a beautiful acoustic guitar from her parents, a surfboard, which was given to her from all of the pack together as a gift. She received money and gift cards from most of her friends. She still had more gifts to open before she opened mine. I just watched intently as she opened them.

Finally she came to my gift. I held my breath hoping she would like it. She carefully removed the top off the gold box, and unwrapped the gift tissue from around the necklace. I heard a small gasp as she removed it from the box. She delicately touched the pendant and ran her finger along the leather cord which used to hang around my neck.

"I..I..I love it, I adore it Quil!" she finally said. I let out a sigh of relief. "It's beautiful."

She finally said all her thank you's and everyone cleaned up and left. I hugged my angel and kissed her head before she left.

"Hey, surfing at first beach tomorrow?" she asked me.

"Yeah I'll bring my board." I replied. Claire had begun surfing last year, she had borrowed my board. I picked up surfing shortly after I had met Claire.

She got into the car and her parents left. Leaving me all alone, high from her very presence. Intoxicated by her very being here.

**CLAIRE POV:**

I had saved Quil's present for the very last because I knew it would be the one that I had treasured the very most. Even if he didn't know it, I secretly was crushing on him. He was always like a big brother to me but my feeling began to change over the years. But how could someone so old like him even love me... like that?

I had secretly wished that he had loved me back when I blew out the candles...but a girl can only dream.

We finally came to opening presents and I was excited. I had gotten a lot of clothes and money from friends and relatives, but it got more exciting as Embry, Leah, Seth, Emily, Sam, Kim, Emily, Jared, Paul, and Jake brought in a surfboard they had all bought for me. On top of that my parents got me an Antares acoustic guitar. Finally at last I opened Quil's gift. I held my breath, as I didn't know what to expect, but they always say big things can come in small packages.

I carefully removed the lid, and unwrapped the tissue around the gift. I gasped as I uncovered a beautiful necklace. From a black leather cord hung a carving of a brown wolf. I noticed the black leather cord had hung from Quil's neck forever, but it was now on my necklace, I ran my finger up and down the cord. The carving was breathtaking, it was so perfect and beautiful. The only question I had was...why a wolf?

Quil had always been a little odd though. He was always so warm, and he looked the same all the time. Not to mention that he ate like a horse and he always worked weird hours. But all the same I still loved him.

I finally thanked him and let him know how I felt about the present. After presents it was time to go, I said bye and thanks to everyone and walked out the door. Quil followed behind, he caught me in another bear hug and I hugged back as hard as I could. He kissed my head and let me go. I asked about surfing tomorrow before I left, and he agreed to take me, so I jumped in the car and left, thinking about him, and excited for tomorrow.

**A/N: Sorry for being so slow, I had writer's block but after listening to some music I wrote this chapter, it's a bit longer than the others but I have more to talk about now lol. Sorry for such the large skip but it was time for it lol. Anyways you know what to do, review please! Let me know my flaws and what you like, or what you think I should do. Suggestions are great. Mucho love to all the peeps reading. Peace!**


	6. Surfboards and Sex Wax

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews...lol...special thanks to bays1 you rock!! Anyways here's the next chapter...Read on!

**Chapter 6: Surfboards and Sex Wax**

_Somewhere between all our laughs, long talks, stupid little fights and all our jokes...I fell in love with you --Anonymous_

**CLAIRE POV:**

I woke up bright and early the next morning. Five to be exact. The alarm clock sounded with an annoying buzz and I reached over to my bed side table and switched it off. I sat up and stretched and yawned. I fell back to the bed with a thud, but I uncovered myself and jumped onto the floor knowing that Quil would be here to pick me up at six thirty. I popped my toes against the hardwood floor, this had always been a habit of mine waking up in the morning.

I went into the adjoining door into my bathroom and made my way to the sink. I grabbed a wash cloth from the cupboard and washed my face and then brushed my teeth. After going through my early morning ritual, I ran back into my bedroom. I made my way over to my tall oak dresser and opened the second drawer. I picked out my black bikini and a black rash guard that said ROXY across the front, I quickly threw these on, adding a pair of blue jean shorts over the bottoms and slipping in to my black flip flops. **(A/N: pictures on my profile) **I went across to the bathroom and grabbed my sunscreen and a towel and brought them into my room and put those into the bag. I went to my dresser and grabbed my jar of Mr. Zoggs Sex Wax and sunglasses. I faced myself in the mirror and decided that my hair didn't much matter so I just pulled it into a messy bun. After fixing my hair I tossed the board wax into the bag and put the sunglasses on top of my head.

I walked out my bedroom door, trotting down the stairs with the beach bag in hand. I looked at the kitchen clock and it was only six. My parents had both left for work leaving me home alone, and it was only June, the beginning of the summer. I went to the pantry and took the box of granola cereal and made myself a bowl of cereal. I flicked the small tv on that was sitting on the counter. I tuned it to FUSE and watched a few videos as I noisily crunched on my cereal.

When I heard the crunch of gravel up my driveway and heard a door slam. I flicked the tv off and put my bowl in the sink. Just then a knock on the door came and I peeped through the small eye hole and saw the most handsome man in La Push staring back at me.

I opened the door a fraction, being that it was secured by the chain thingy at the top. "I'm not supposed to let strangers in the house while mom and dad are gone," I said jokingly.

"Well excuse me miss, but I was just looking for my surfing buddy," he replied. I giggled and opened the door and let him in.

"Hang on just a sec, I need to grab my bag," I said as I went over to the counter and grabbed my things. I walked out the door, Quil in front of me, I locked the door and threw my keys back into my bag.

"Is your board in the garage?" Quil asked.

"Yeah do you think you could grab it for me?" I asked in return.

"Sure, give me a minute," he was gone in a flash. I made my way over to his truck and got in closing the door behind me. Quil appeared just then securing my board next to his on the surfboard rack mounted on the top of his car. He had invested in that when I was just a little girl. We used to go surfing a lot and Quil would put me on his board and we would ride the waves together, that's where we both developed our love for the ocean, I think I was about four when it started. It was really funny how Quil looked the same as I remembered him though, but again maybe I was just going crazy?

I was cut out of my thoughts as Quil got into the cab with me.

"Buckle up Claire Bear," he said reminding me, I always forgot to buckle up and it always worried Quil to no end. He was always worried about me. I sighed and buckled up.

The car ride went on with Quil and I arguing over which radio station to listen to. We opted to plug in a System of Down CD after a while. After a short drive we made our way down to First Beach. We got out of the car and grabbed the boards from the rack on top of Quil's car. I took my jean shorts and put some sunscreen on my face while Quil set the boards on the beach. I caught him giving me this odd look, but he snapped out of it immediately knowing that I saw him. I closed the door and met Quil on the beach.

"You ready?" he asked. I nodded in return.

We picked our boards up and paddled out into the chilly water. I shivered a little but afterwards got used to the water. The waves were nice this morning and I paddled my board closer to Quil.

"Let's get a little further out." he said.

We began paddling out further and I started ducking beneath the on coming waves so I wouldn't get knocked off my board. Finally we reached our spot and we surfed for hours. When the sun began to peek up over the clouds a little more we returned to the beach. I didn't even realize how cold I had gotten. Quil noticed however. We had dropped our boards and he wrapped his arms around me in order to warm me up. I must have been really cold because my teeth were chattering too. His arms were tightly wound around my waist, and I pushed myself closer to him winding my arms around his neck and burying my head in his chest. He was always so warm, and in no time he had me all warmed up. I began to stir so he let me out of his grip.

I ran back to the car and got my back and brought it back onto the beach I pulled out my towel and laid it upon the sand and sat down, Quil who was gazing out at the ocean sat down next to me. I took out the jar of sex wax and found my board and began to wax it. Quil did the same.

"How come you've never had a girlfriend Quil?" I asked.

He thought for a minute and then answered, "Because I'd much rather spend my time with you."

"Aww that's sweet of you but seriously I never get boring or annoying?" I asked.

"Never." he replied. I smiled. "Cool" I responded.

"But have you ever thought about what it would be like if I wasn't always with you?" I asked.

He sighed as he kept buffing his board, "It would be really different Claire Bear, my days would be a lot less bright." he smiled. "Alright kiddo that's enough twenty questions for today, let's get you home."

On the car ride home Quil was really quiet. I just glanced out the window and clutched onto my necklace, which I had refused to take off since the moment I got it. I could almost swear that I saw him look at me and smile. Maybe they should just throw me in the padded room right now? I was beginning to see things.

**QUIL POV:**

I became really nervous as Claire asked me all those questions. I feared that she was growing suspicious of what I am. I don't want her to be scared either. So after a while I left to take her home, to hopefully get her mind off those pondering questions that would have to wait to be answered for another four years.

On the car ride home we were both equally quiet. We didn't even look at each other. I guess it just felt awkward for some reason. At one point I saw her look out the window and she was clutching the necklace that I gave her. I just smiled, but looked over quickly. Maybe she did love me back?

In the end I knew it would all work out. So I told myself to shut up and enjoy the good times.

**A/N: You know what to do! Review Review pretty pretty please with sugar on top! New chappie coming tonight or tomorrow, there will be more frequent updates because it's a lot easier for me to write right now being that Claire is older.**


	7. Guitar Hero and Peanut Butter Mayhem

**A/N: Here's the next chapter enjoy! Read On! Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers!! Reviews are like chocolate.**

**Chapter 7: Guitar Hero and Peanut Butter Mayhem**

_Love: luhv: 1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. 2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection. -- dictionary _

**CLAIRE POV:**

It had been a couple of months since Quil and I went surfing and we had been spending the entire summer together yet again. We were the best of friends. We both went surfing in the mornings and came back to my house just to hang out in the afternoons and on the weekends or when Quil didn't have shifts to work we went camping or spent the night at my house. For some odd reason my mother sure did trust Quil around me, especially to be having sleepovers. But like I said...Quil was just weird.

It was finally August and today it was raining, and Quil had slept over so we decided to stay in the house for the day. I woke up late this morning, ten to be exact and Quil was still snoozing on the other couch, since we usually just crashed in the living room. I decided not to wake him up, so I went upstairs to take a shower. I cut the hot water on and jumped in, it felt nice as the hot water relieved the tension. I stepped out feeling clean and fresh. I walked into my room wearing only a towel when I heard a crash downstairs.

"Damn it all!" I heard Quil yell. I laughed and poked my head around the corner and looked downstairs. Apparently Quil had fallen off the couch. He turned and looked up at me, and then I remembered I was only wearing a towel, I blushed and ran back into my room closing the door. I heard a thundering boom of laughter from downstairs...I'm glad he thought it was funny because it was embarrassing for me.

After drying off, I slipped into a grey pair of shorts and an Alice In Chains shirt. I owned a lot of band shirts, but music was always a love of mine. I pulled my wet hair which was half way down my back into a messy bun. After making sure I looked OK I ran back downstairs. Quil was in the kitchen fixing frozen waffles in the toaster.

"Well, good morning sunshine," I said sarcastically to him.

"Same to you," he replied.

"What's on the agenda for today?" I asked.

"Oh nothing much what would you like to do?" he replied.

"Guitar Hero?" I asked.

"Perfect." he said.

After eating our breakfast, which tasted delicious, we made our way to the living room and sat on the couch in front of the TV. Quil plugged in the PlayStation while I got the game and guitars. We hooked the system all up and then got ready to play. We decided to do multiplayer so we could unlock all the songs first.

I glanced up at the clock and three hours had passed since we started playing. Quil then begged me to play on battle mode, so we did. We played on battle mode for another couple hours and by the time we were ready to quit Quil and I were tied for how many wins we had. We decided on one last game for a tie breaker and in the very end it was close but he ended up beating me by one hundred points.

"Wooohooo!" he yelled "I won I won!" he began jumping up and down on the couch.

"Yeah sure whatever, but one hundred points," I said back, slightly annoyed.

Then out of nowhere my stomach growled. "Hey loser, you up for peanut butter and jelly?" I asked.

"Yeah that sounds great." he replied.

We got into the kitchen and I went to the cupboard and dug out the peanut butter, well two jumbo jars since we both loved a lot of peanut butter on our sandwiches, and bread and Quil got the grape jelly from the fridge. I got a spoon from the drawer.

"I won and you lost," he began chanting. I decided to get him back so I scooped up a spoonful of peanut butter and flung it at his head. My aim is impeccable so it hit him square between the eyes. I managed to catch a tendril of his hair in the blob. I laughed and fell on the ground.

"Oh no you didn't," he said to me wiping the glob off his forehead and throwing it at me, landing right in the middle of my shirt.

"This is my favorite shirt!" I yelled. I picked up another blob of peanut butter and flung it at his head. He tried to duck but wasn't fast enough so it landed in his hair. He then got frustrated so he picked up the other jumbo jar and got a spoon from the drawer and began flinging at me, another blob landed on my cheek so I flung another at him but it ended up hitting the wall. About ten minutes later the whole kitchen was covered in peanut butter blobs. On the floor, on the walls, on the counters, and all over us.

"Great what do we do now?" he asked. I noticed it was raining.

"Well I don't know about you but I'm not taking another shower." I said.

He looked at me strangely and then I pointed outside to the pouring rain. I ran out the back door into the yard and began dancing around in the rain, The peanut butter began running off my skin onto the ground, and Quil soon joined me. We began dancing together in the rain. We made our way around the fence into the front yard and danced in the puddles in the driveway. We were so busy dancing that we didn't notice my mom pull up.

"Oh shit," we both said at the same time.

"Hi Claire and Quil, how have you guys been today?" she asked, stepping out of the car with her umbrella.

"Er okay I guess mom, a little wet at the moment though," I said.

She just laughed and walked into the house. Quil and I stopped dead in our tracks, turned and faced each other and had pure looks of horror on each other's face. Then we heard a scream and I knew my mom had seen her beloved kitchen covered in peanut butter blobs.

"QUIL ARTEARA!! CLAIRE!!" she yelled in pure anger "GET YOUR BEHINDS IN HERE NOW!"

We both slumped back into the kitchen where mom both handed us cleaning supplies and we began cleaning our mess. Our fun mess.

**QUIL POV:**

We had gotten into a peanut butter war today. It was so fun flinging peanut butter at each other and Claire looked so adorable when she wad mad. She was still mad that I had beat her at Guitar Hero.

She led us both outside afterwards to wash away the peanut butter and dance in the rain. I thought she was beautiful as she was but she was even more beautiful in the rain. It really intensified her smell. She smelled like the beach, she had a tropical, exotic smell like ginger and plumerias.

Then her mom drove up and we both had looks of pure horror on our face as she discovered her kitchen. Although she wasn't that mad, we had to clean the entire kitchen.

Only a few weeks of the summer remained until the start of school, then I'd have to let my angel go for eight hours of the day. Oh how I dreaded it.

**A/N: You know what to do, review please and let me know my flaws and what you liked. New chapter will be up soon, Claire is headed back to school . Ok peace out!**


	8. Back to School Already?

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I hope everyone continues to enjoy the story, I have no plans of ending it anytime soon . Read On! Oh and I don't own Quil or Claire...so here's the disclaimer lol.**

**Chapter 8: Back to School Already?**

_And so the wolf fell in love with the lamb--taken from twilight and tweaked a bit. _

**CLAIRE POV:**

I couldn't believe it, summer had gone and passed so quickly, it was quite depressing. Quil called it 'Back to School Blues', and that's exactly what I had. Today was the very last day of summer until I would be locked up in a building that was much too cold and much too boring for my taste. It had white walls, I always thought it was a mental institution myself but they called it 'La Push Middle School'. This year would be the beginning of seventh grade for me.

"So what would you like to do today pipsqueak?" Quil asked.

"Oh I don't know, surfing, then shopping, then hanging out with the guys?" I suggested.

"Your wish is my command." he simply said. I rolled my eyes.

I jumped up from the couch and ran up the stairs to go grab my suit. I grabbed the simple black suit and threw it on quickly adding my jean shorts over the bottoms. I put my sunglasses on and slipped my flip flops on and was ready to go. Quil was downstairs waiting on the couch.

"Ok the bathroom is vacant if you want to go change now," I said as I came down the stairs. Quil just kinda stared at me, then I realized I was only wearing a bikini top and my jean shorts. I blushed a deep crimson.

"Uh.. um y-yeah ok I'm going now.. uh," and with that he quickly ran up the stairs. Quil had kept a small stash of his clothes here in the guest room since he stayed so often during the summer. I just wondered why he was acting funny all of a sudden?

After a few moments he came back down the stairs dressed in his black trunks with a white shirt over the top. He threw me a white shirt of his.

"Put this on please," he said. I obliged and threw the shirt on. It smelled heavenly, just like Quil. I inhaled his deep scent and was lost for a moment.

"So are we going to leave or what pipsqueak?" he asked.

"Yeah we'll grab the boards and go," I replied.

After a couple hours of surfing we came back to the house and got ready for school shopping. I went upstairs and quickly showered and peeled off my wet swimsuit. I pulled on my blue plaid pants and black polo shirt. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and came out. Quil had gone into the guest room to get ready so he was waiting on me.

"You done Claire Bear?" he asked.

"Yeah let's get going," I said.

We went along the highway to Forks, the small neighbor town to La Push. Most of the car ride involved Quil and I talking about music and classes I was taking this year. When we finally arrived to Walmart.

It had always been a tradition for Quil to take me school shopping, I had no clue why but every year he bought my school supplies and we always had a fun time shopping and then hanging out with the guys the day before school started. We usually went down to First Beach and had smores and sometimes I pulled out my guitar and played. That was another talent of mine, playing the guitar. I had picked it up when I was about ten, Quil had taught me on his acoustic, but his had been broken when Jake and Embry got drunk and decided to smash it. I had gotten better over the years though using a friend's. I was really excited when I got my Antares acoustic for my birthday this year I had finally had a guitar of my own.

Anyways, we were here at walmart about to go school shopping.

"You ready to go moshing pipsqueak?" Quil asked.

"Always Quilly," I said, using his nickname, since he insisted on calling me pipsqueak all the time, I couldn't help that I was shorter than him. He was a giant!

We came into the packed Walmart and headed straight for the school supplies aisle. Did I ever mention how packed it was? It was just like moshing at a concert. Quil and I made our way through the aisles and picked up the necessities, notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, colored pencils, etc. Finally when we picked up everything we found our way out of the sea of people. I thought we would never get out of there, but we did. We made our way over to the check out counter and the checker scanned our items. She was rather young and she glared strangely at me while attempting to flirt with Quil. I don't know why but I got really jealous fast.

"Will that be all for you sir," she asked, batting her fake overly coated with mascara eye lashes at _my _Quil. At that moment in time I wanted to push that girl into a wood chipper.

"I believe so," he said without emotion. At least he wasn't flirting back.

She gave us the final total and Quil payed and grabbed the receipt and we made our way out the door. We were finally done shopping for school supplies. We loaded the bags into the car and made our way down the highway back to La Push. The whole way there we fought over radio stations and talked about theories of where Jim Morrison might be.

After arguing over several theories, we arrived back into La Push and my house. Quil unloaded the bags while I ran upstairs to grab the guitar and then we headed back out to the car to head to First Beach to meet with the rest of the guys for the back to school bonfire.

**A/N: This one came out a little late because I've been working on reviews for finals and I have like 3 projects to do for school so I haven't had much time. Ok please review, I'll have a new chapter up soon with the second part to this, it may be shorter though but it has the bonfire in it...with the rest of the pack.**


	9. Campfire and Cobain

**A/N: Ok I only have like 11 reviews...and most are from Bays1 who totally rocks my socks. But I'm not getting any feedback from the thousands of hits I'm getting from this story and it's making me really sad...but anyways read on! Also spell check would not work on this...so I had to proofread this myself so please excuse my mistakes I just was so impatient to get this chapter out to everyone.**

**Chapter 9: Campfires and Cobain**

_"Love is like a hole; once you fall in, it's hard to get out."--Unknown_

**CLAIRE POV:**

Quil and I made our way out of the house to his truck. I walked over to the door and opened it and let the seat forward. I carefully placed my guitar in its case in the back of the truck's cab. I raised the seat forward and climbed up. Quil shut my door for me and crawled in and closed his door.

"Buckle up squirt," Quil said.

I obliged and buckled my seat belt. Quil always reminded me of the cops in those annoying commercials on TV when he always reminded me to buckle up. 'Click it or Ticket' the slogan rang in my mind. I laughed inwardly at myself. I hated being buckled up because I loved the free feeling I got when I wasn't.

Quil moved to cut the air conditioner on but I stopped him, my hand brushed his and it was like fire underneath my finger tips. I quickly recoiled, it felt like an electrical spark. I just pointed to the windows and we rolled them down quickly. Since Quil's truck was so old we had to manually do so.

Finally after a minute Quil pulled out of the driveway and we made the short drive down to First Beach. Quil laughed at me as I poked my head out the window and rested my chin against the bottom of the window. The cool wind felt wonderful on my face as the evening sun beamed down upon me. I just appreciated the scenery and just living and being here with Quil.

Finally we pulled up to the beach and Quil turned the car off and got out. He came around to my door and opened it and helped me out.

"Up you go Claire Bear," he said as he lifted me to his shoulders in order to give me a piggy back ride. I yelped and then laughed and he joined in. Quil an I ran through the sand on First Beach until we found the 'gang' as I had declared them all gathered around a fire sitting on large pieces of driftwood arranged into a circle.

Quil sat me down, it was then I realized how hot the sand was but soon my feet would not be touching the ground.

"Claire!" Kim screamed as she came running towards me. Kim was another one of my best friends from the gang, her and Jared had been attached at the hip ever since I could remember. Jared followed closely behind her as she wrapped me up into a bear hug. "I haven't seen you in forever." she said.

"I know, I missed you too, Kim," I replied as I hugged back.

She finally sat me down and passed me on to Jared, who also picked me up and hugged me tightly. "Pipsqueak...I missed you so, how have you been?" he asked.

"Oh just peachy," I managed to squeak out. He then passed me off to Embry who had been next in line so I had a little time to breathe. I looked back and sure enough the whole gang had lined up to squeeze Claire to death. 'Oh joy!' I thought sarcastically although I loved each one of them like family...even Jared and Embry.

"Claire Bear, where have you been?" he asked.

"Oh just hanging around, how come you haven't come surfing with me and Quilly?" I asked.

"Work," he said very curtly. All of the people in the gang were so secretive. He hugged me lightly which I was thankful for and passed me off to Jacob.

Jacob caught me and threw me up into the air, caught me and then hugged me really hard. "Missed you Claire," he said and passed me off to Leah.

She gave me a small hug and kiss on the cheek and then Seth picked me up.

"You, me," he said pointing "Guitar hero competition soon." I laughed at him.

"I bet you I win Seth," I said.

"Bring it on tiny," he said cockily.

Finally I was passed off to Paul, he just said hi and gave me a hug. He was never really as connected to me as the others. Collin and Brady didn't show up because they had to work so I was spared two more hugs.

"Is that all of the 'squeezing Claire to death fest'?" I asked sarcastically. A chorus of booming laughter erupted.

"You forgot me," he spoke.

I sauntered over to him and threw my arms around his neck, _my Quil's neck_ and hugged him as I muttered "I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Quil said. "You're forgiven Claire Bear." He smiled warmly at me. I got lost in his eyes for a moment until Embry signaled that it was time for the festivities to begin. Quil ran back to the car and grabbed my guitar and we all sat around the campfire. I was sandwiched in between Quil and Jacob with Embry sitting next to Jacob and Jared next to Quil. Kim sat next to Jared and Leah sat next to Kim. Paul and Seth sat together. Embry and Jared dug out the stuff to make the smores and we all made smores and talked about everything together and just enjoyed being in one another's company.

When night began to fall I carefully took my guitar from its case. I began to idly strum and play a few scales. I carefully turned the tuning knobs and tuned it up to be played. It had been a tradition since I was ten to play the guitar at the campfire. I had picked up singing, and surprisingly I had a nice voice, so I sang too. Finally once it got quiet and I was ready I started in on a song, one of my favorites. I started an acoustic version of Truth by Seether.

_If I gave you the truth, would it keep you alive?  
Though I'm closer to wrong  
I'm no further from right  
And now I'm convinced on the inside that something's wrong with me  
Convinced on the inside, you're so much more than me, yeah  
_

_No there's nothing you say that can salvage the lie  
But I'm trying to keep my intentions disguised  
And now I'm deprived of my conscience and something's got to give  
Deprived of my conscience  
This all belongs to me, yeah_

I'm beaten down again, I belong to them  
Beaten down again, I've failed you  
I'm weaker now my friend, I belong to them  
Beaten down again, I've failed you

The deception you show is your own parasite  
Just a word of advice you can heed if you like  
And now I'm convinced on the inside that something's wrong with me  
Convincd on the inside you're so much more than me, yeah

_I'm beaten down again, I belong to them  
Beaten down again, I've failed you  
I'm weaker now my friend, I belong to them  
Beaten down again, I've failed you_

_I'm beaten down. I'm beaten down._

I finished and a few cat calls came from the gang. I reached for a bottle of water out of the cooler and chugged it as Quil took the guitar out of my hands. I passed it to him as he was about to play a song.

_I need an easy friend_

_I do with an ear to lend_

_I don't think you fit this shoe_

_I do won't you have a clue_

I immediately recognized the song. It had always been a favorite of mine. About a Girl by Nirvana.

_I'll take advantage while_

_You hang me out to dry_

_But I can't see you every night_

_Free_

_I do_

_I'm standing in your line_

_I do hope you have the time_

_I do pick a number too_

_I do keep a date with you_

_I'll take advantage while_

_You hang me out to dry_

_But I can't see you every night_

_Free_

_I need an easy friend_

_I do with an ear to lend_

_I do think you fit this shoe_

_I do won't you have a clue_

_I'll take advantage while_

_You hang me out to dry_

_But I can't see you every night_

_No, I can't see you every night_

_Free_

_I do_

_I do _

_I do_

_I do _

He finished and I just about cried at how beautiful it was played.

"Please don't smash my guitar," I said jokingly. We all laughed.

"I sure do miss Cobain," Jared said. "Damn fine guitar player, lyrical genius."

"May he Rest in Peace," we all said at the same time. Yes this was another of our odd traditions, since we were all rock music junkies, specifically grunge which had come out of the Seattle area in the 1990's.

"Ok Claire Bear, I think it's time we get you home it's late and you have school tomorrow," Quil said.

A chorus of good-byes came from the gang, and we made our way back to the car. I got in after putting my guitar in the backseat of the truck. I must have fallen asleep on the way home because all I remember is Quil carrying me into the house and laying me into my bed and tenderly kissing my forehead saying "Good night my angel." Then he was gone.

**QUIL POV:**

Claire had looked so beautiful as she played. Her voice was beautiful. Everything about her was beautiful. I just stared at her mesmerized. She was growing up so fast and soon she would know. I brought her home after the bonfire knowing that this would be the very last of our lazy summer days. I tucked her into her bed and kissed her forehead bidding her a goodnight. I felt a twinge of sadness as I realized I'd be going home, and spending my night with Embry instead of my angel.

**A/N: I will post a new chapter as soon as I get 4 more reviews. I am feeling like no one likes this because I am not hearing much feedback. So I feel like I'm writing to a brick wall and the awesome bays1 (lol). **_  
_


	10. You're What?

**A/N: Well 4 reviews were NOT made...but I got 3 so I'm cutting you guys some slack. This chapter is purely fluff as Quil is realizing Claire is growing up! Read on!**

**Chapter 10: You're what?**

_"Love is the feeling you get when you can't ever keep him off your mind for one second, the way your heart flutters whenever he comes near, and the way your eyes glaze over when you're with him."--Me, Bandie0898_

**Claire POV:**

My alarm clock rang with an annoying beep. I groaned and pushed the snooze button only telling myself five more minutes, I thought about that dream I had last night. I began to doze off again and it all came back to me..

_Quil came towards me and hugged me very hard and ran off. I was in the middle of the woods all by myself. I began to weep for some reason as he left, I missed him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a strange looking man, he had the palest skin I had ever seen. He had odd eyes too, they were a glowing red, his hair was jet black and a bit shaggy. He wore a grey cloak, he began to approach me and I tried to scream in fear, but it felt as if I were paralyzed. I couldn't move and I couldn't scream for Quil. The man came nearer and nearer and then he took my chin and tilted my head upwards. He went straight for my neck and then.._

"CLAIRE GET UP NOW YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE," my mom yelled from downstairs snapping me out of dream-land. I just thought about how scary it would be to lose Quil, and that person in my dream was so scary looking, it was as if my instincts were telling me to run away and find Quil or Uncle Sam or Jake or Embry.

I quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed an outfit for the first day of school. I picked up my blue tank top covered in stars and a pair of skinny jeans and threw them on quickly. I finished off the outfit with my beat up yellow converse which had been drawn all over by Quil and I, we preferred "customized converse" as we called them and my black and silver studded belt. I ran a brush through my hair and straightened it out with the flat iron, I looked at the clock and it was 6:45, Quil would be here in 15 minutes to pick me up for school. I went into the adjoining bathroom to my room and washed my face and brushed my teeth. When I got done I came out of the bathroom and walked over to my desk and picked up my black backpack filled with the school supplies Quil and I had bought yesterday. Finally after one final look in the mirror I decided I looked suitable. My attention immediately went to my necklace which dangled off my neck, the small chocolate brown wolf on the black leather cord blended with my skin tone.

At that moment I heard a door slam and with the book bag over my shoulder I ran downstairs to meet Quil.

"Good morning Claire Bear," he called at I was coming down the stairs. I noticed Embry was with him this morning, and he whistled at me. I blushed.

"I must say you look mighty fine Claire darling," Embry said with an accent. "Quil looks like you'll have to keep a loaded gun around here to keep the boys away," he said.

"Shut up Call," Quil growled. I wonder what that was all about?

"Er, thanks Embry and good morning to you guys too," I said pleasantly I was surprised because usually I was not a morning person. Maybe it was just because of my dream, not the scary man, but because Quil was there?

"You ready Claire Bear?" Quil asked.

"No," I said jokingly. He laughed and Quil and Embry filed out the front door, I grabbed my keys and a granola bar off the counter and followed behind.

"BYE MOM," I yelled as I closed the door. Embry and Quil were waiting in the truck as I came out. I ran and jumped in the front seat sandwiched between Quil and Embry I sat in the middle. We buckled up and backed out of the driveway headed for that horrid place, La Push Middle School. Oh how I wished it was just burn down or a meteor would come out of the sky and blast it away, or maybe a rogue wave from the beach behind it would come and demolish it. I just detested the place to bits. I thought about various ways it could be destroyed as I noisily crunched on my yummy granola bar.

Finally after a short drive we pulled up at the front. Quil parked the car and he and Embry jumped out. Quil and Embry helped me out of the car.

"Ok pipsqueak, I'll be here to pick you up later good luck," he said as he hugged me.

"Bye squirt," Embry said. Then he whispered in my ear "Oh and if you need anything or want me to come get you out of this hell hole then you can just call me because I will come get you but Quil wouldn't."

I laughed at him and said "OK Embry." Quil punched him in the shoulder and said "I would too."

Finally after one long last hug from Quil and a few envious stares from other girls waiting out front they left and I made my way to the asylum. Today was the first day of 7th grade, and how I wished it would be the last. But at least I'd get a view of the beach from my classrooms right?

Finally after 8 hours of mean teachers, rules, guidelines, and just plain being bored the final bell rang. I grabbed my bag and made my way down the hallway, I was a bit of a loner in this school, I had a few buddies here and there mainly the surfer crowd and a few the hippies and skateboarders but I wasn't popular. Finally the front door came into sight and I pushed my way out. There waiting for me in the parking lot was Quil. I ran to him and hugged him.

"I never want to go back, I miss summer time," I said into his chest. He laughed.

"OK let's get out of here then Claire Bear." he said.

Quil and I headed home all the way there I talked about my mean teachers and a few of my buddies. We pulled up to the house and I unlocked the door and went in. A note scribbled on a highlighter yellow sticky note from mom was on the counter:

_Claire,_

_I will be at work late, as least until nine, you and Quil can order a couple of pizzas I left some money for you on the counter. Dad is gone for a week in Seattle on a business conference, don't forget to feed the cat and have fun!_

_Love,_

_Mom_

Quil stood over my shoulder and read it. I put the note down and ran up to my room to sit my stuff down and change out of my school clothes as Quil flopped down on the sofa and flicked the TV on. After throwing a pair of black yoga pants on and taking my shoes off I ran back downstairs with Quil and flopped on the sofa beside him. We watched tv for a while until I heard his stomach grumble.

"Hey Claire I think I'm gonna go ahead and order the pizzas it's 5:30, and I'm getting hungry," he said.

I laughed, "I can tell Quilly." He got off the couch, and it was immediately cold. I could hear him go into the kitchen and grab the phone off the charger. I could hear the annoying bleep of the phone being dialed and Quil ordered the pizzas. He resettled on the couch and we commenced watching TV, Vh1 to be exact, until we heard a ring of a doorbell. Quil got up and answered the door, I was behind him to hand him the cash I had retrieved off the counter.

A pimpled faced boy with orange hair and glasses was at the door. In a squawky voice he said to Quil, "It'll be 17.68, sir." Quil turned to me and I handed him the twenty dollar bill in my hand and he gave it to the nerd.

"Keep the change dude," Quil told the boy as he was handed 3 pizzas. When the pizzas were in hand he closed the door. Quil sat the pizzas on the counter and dug into a whole one himself, he always ate a ton. I sat down and I was hit by some sharp pains in my stomach.

"You gonna eat Claire?" he asked with a mouthful of chewed up pizza.

"No, my stomach kinda hurts," I said. His face immediately changed from happy to a worried look. '_Over a stomach ache?_' I thought to myself. He ran upstairs to my paren'ts bathroom and then came back down with a couple of tablets in hand. He handed me two TUMS and I took them.

"Thanks Quil, I'm gonna go sit on the couch," I said.

"Ok, let me know if you need anything," he said.

I sat there and the pains didn't go away, my stomach kept cramping up. After about an hour of sitting down I went upstairs to pee. I climbed up the stairs hastily and went into the bathroom. When I slid my pants down I saw a red splotch in my underwear.

"Oh shit," I said. '_I just started my flippin' period and my mom isn't going to be home for the long time and...Quil oh shit._..' I thought to myself. Thinking quickly I pulled my pants up and ran into mom's bathroom and looked in her cabinet. '_Shit, she doesn't have anything up here_.' I thought. '_Great now I have to go tell Quil'_. I stopped and tucked a piece of toilet paper in my pants and ran across the hallway into my room and put a jacket around my waist.

I ran downstairs and Quil looked up. "You OK Claire?" he asked. I shook my head no. I couldn't get the words to come out. "What's wrong Claire Bear?," he asked again, his features looked purely worried.

I finally managed a whisper, "I'm bleeding."

He immediately picked me up and said, "Oh my god where? Who, what, when, where, how, hurt you?" He started looking for visible spots to see where I was bleeding at. Then it dawned on him. "You mean, woman, period..._THAT_?" I just nodded and blushed. "Oh hell, what do I do?" he asked.

"Well um..I need some _things _so we need to make a trip to the drugstore." I said in almost a whisper. I had _NEVER _seen Quil blush, but he blushed and I could tell, even on that deep skin of his. He took a deep breath and then grabbed his keys off the counter.

"Ok let's go," he said quietly.

"I'm sorry, Quil," I said.

"Oh no honey stop it's not your fault, this is a natural part of growing up and..uh erm being a woman," he said as he hugged me tight. I just started bawling into his chest. _'Me and my damn emotions' _I thought to myself. I stopped and he looked into my eyes for a moment as he wiped a tear off of my face.

"Let's get going pipsqueak," he said. We both walked out to the truck and pulled away.

Minutes later we were at the local Walgreen's in La Push. It was 7:15 and we walked straight down _aisle number 4_. Facing us was a wall of _things. Things _in pink packages, _things_ in blue packages _things, things, things! _

"Er yeah Claire, I am not going to be of much help _here_," Quil said, I could still see the blush creeping up in his face. My own face felt very hot too.

"I would hope not," I said jokingly. "Unless you make trips with Embry to _aisle 4 _or anything." He just started laughing.

"I'm gonna tell Embry you said that." he said.

Finally I picked out a package of _things_, a blue package with the label of 'Always: Leak Protection' and we made our way up to the front. I hid behind Quil the whole time because I was really embarrassed. I peeked around his shoulder to see a middle-aged store clerk who looked like she had stepped out of the 80's. She had the blue vest, a skirt with lime green legwarmers and very poofy hair. Her makeup was really heavy and colorful. It reminded me of Mimi's off the Drew Carey Show. She stood behind the counter loudly smacking her gum.

"This gonna be all for ya sir?" she asked.

"Er uh um...yeah." he said studdering, I could feel his embarrassment too. Quil pulled out his wallet and payed the clerk. We were just about to walk out when she saw me.

"Aww how sweet buying pads for his little sister, the bravery," she said to herself, but we heard. We quickly ran out the sliding doors and began laughing. Finally we crawled into the truck and went home. Quil handed me the bag when we stopped at the house. He cut the car off and turned to me.

"None of this leaves the car, got it?" he said.

"Oh trust me it won't, buddy," I replied.

I grabbed my bag and went upstairs to the bathroom where I fixed myself up and changed clothes. When I was finished I came running back down the stairs and Quil was just getting off the phone with my mom, probably. I ran over to him and hugged him.

"What's this for?" he asked as he hugged me back.

"For being the best friend a girl could ever ask for," I said in return.

**QUIL POV:**

Claire. My angel, she's growing up so fast. The poor thing I could feel her embarrassment as I walked into the drugstore with her to get...those um _things_ yeah _things_. She is really growing up too fast. '_Just 4 more years' _I kept thinking to myself. I remembered her outfit from this morning, I was just worried about what the boys her age thought of her and I dreaded her ever getting a boyfriend, because she could have so much more. I would give her the world if I could. But for now I was enjoying times as being _'the best friend a girl could ever ask for' _and if that's what she wanted, then that's what she would get.

**A/N: 'inserts laughs and then aww's' this chapter is pure fluff. I think we may just skip a few months here and there and we'll let a plot unfold pretty soon 'rubs hands together maniacally' Well here's the spot where I'm gonna beg for some more reviews...give me 3 and I'll write another chapter as soon as I dig it out of this brain of mine. Anyways till' then...Peace out! oh and I'm sorry if my dialect is getting in the way but I'm a Texan ;) **


	11. Wrapping Up the Year

**A/N: Sorry for not updating...I've had serious writer's block. Read On!**

**Chapter 11: Wrapping up the Year**

_"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves." -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7_

**CLAIRE POV:**

It was finally the end of the school year and I was looking forward to summer. I tapped my pencil upon my desk as I waited for my final exam to be passed back. I glanced out the window next to me and looked towards the beach. The waves were perfect surfing size. I watched as they lapped against the sandy shores of Second Beach. The sun peeked over the clouds and shrouded the beach and all the landscape with it's golden rays. I sighed as I daydreamed of me and Quil surfing. Together. But then reality hit me in the form of a test packet labeled "Mrs. Whitecastle's Final Exam". I remembered, I was sitting in Pre Algebra about to take finals. I was finally wrapping up the school year and I was glad, that meant my birthday was right around the corner and I would be spending summer with my best friend, Quil.

I groaned as I opened up the packet and began my test. _Question number one: A flag pole is 10 feet tall and casts a shadow of 28 feet at 12 noon how big is a shadow casted by a 4 foot tall child?_

_'Why the hell am I going to have to know this later on in life?' _I thought to myself. I worked the problem by setting up a proportion and circled letter C. I transferred my answer on to the hot pink scan-tron sitting parallel to the test. I repeated this until I finished my test.

Right as I finished working the last problem and bubbled in the tiny dot on the scan-tron the bell rang releasing us for the day. I was thankful today was the last day and that I didn't have to see Mrs. Whitecastle again, and that I was done taking her final exam.

I sat my packet and scantron down on her desk as I slung my backpack over my shoulder and made my way down the hall. I was hugged by my closest friend, Kendall, as I walked out. We said our goodbyes as I continued on my way out to the parking lot to go home, and be with him.

Quil waited for me as usual and I ran across to him. He picked me up in one of his famous bear hugs.

"Pipsqueak! Thank goodness this is the last day because now we get to have fun all summer long, and I get my best friend back." he said.

"I know, I can't wait to go surfing some more and I need to challenge Seth to that guitar hero duel." I replied. He just laughed as he helped me into his truck. He ran around to the other side after helping me in, and got in himself. He started the car and rolled both of our windows down, since his air conditioning had went out a week ago and he was waiting for Jake to fix it. It didn't matter to me because I'd rather hang my head out the window and enjoy the cool breeze upon my face. So that's what I did, until I heard Quil's booming laugh and ducked my head back into the truck.

"What?" I inquired.

"Oh nothing, you just look like a dog sticking your head out the window," he said.

I just smirked and stuck my tongue out at him and stuck my head out the window again. I rested my head in the crook of my elbow on the bottom of the window. The warm sun and the cool breeze hit my face, and I was in my happy place, thinking about how summer would be, and how happy I would be to spend it with Quil, my best friend.

**CHALLENGE!**

OK readers, I have a challenge for you! I want to see some people actually solve the problem I gave above, it's really simple math but I think it's something fun we can add to the story...I got the idea from LindaRoo and Edward in P.E. so I give her full credit...

Here's the problem:

_A flag pole is 10 feet tall and casts a shadow of 28 feet at 12 noon how big is a shadow casted by a 4 foot tall child?_

**I will provide one hint ... proportions will help you immensely in this problem. Good luck and just leave your answer in a review to me, and make sure to tell me what you think of the story and if you have any ideas or what not, but until then...Peace out! Oh yeah and if you guess the answer...I will give you a small peek of next chapter, after 5 reviews I'll post the chapter! Oh and after the next couple of chapters the story WILL develop a real plot and it will get exciting but these are just some fluffy moments until Claire gets just a little bit older.**


	12. My Birthday Just Rocked

**A/N: Thanks for the surge of reviews, I'm officially up to 25 :D The answer the the last problem was 11.2 feet. Those who guessed right were awarded with a sneak peek of next chapter, for those who reviewed anonymously, I gave you a sneak peek on my profile of Claire's dress for this chapter. OK lovely readers as always...Read on! Longest chapter to date!!**

**Chapter 12: My Birthday Rocks**

_"If nothing lasts forever...will you be my nothing?" --Anonymous._

**QUIL POV:**

I carefully took the envelope that had arrived in the mail. I had it sent, express to get it here on time. I had searched everywhere for the perfect gift and I had found it. There it sat in a yellow envelope on my oak table. It was addressed to me, Quil Arteara. I carefully took the envelope and opened it with the letter opener sitting on the desk next to the table in the kitchen. I slid the package's contents out and without bending or creasing them at all I put them in the box sitting on the table. I sat them in the cotton sponge which was situated on the bottom of the box and closed the lid. I tied a rainbow colored ribbon around the box to keep it closed and keep her from peeking at its contents. Plus since I was a man, did you really expect me to wrap it? I finally took the card I had purchased to go with the gift and wrote a small note and signed my name at the bottom. Her gift was ready, and I was on my way to get ready for Claire's thirteenth birthday.

After fixing the gift I made my way down the hallway into my room to get dressed. I decided on my white shirt and my standard cutoff shorts. I laced up my converse to finish the look and I was ready to go, but I was still two hours early in all my haste to get ready to see her. I was really overjoyed to see her but pained to see she was growing up so fast. It was only yesterday when she was just three years old and we sat in Sam and Emily's living room playing with Barbies. Or it felt like yesterday when she was eight years old and we played 'beauty shop', she gave me a full make-over, hair, nails, and make-up. The guys in the pack always teased me about my dramatic transformation. But I would do anything for her.

So, here I sat waiting, just plain waiting for the clock to strike six so I could see my angel. I sat wondering what she was doing right now.

**CLAIRE POV:**

"CLAIRE GET READY!!" my mom yelled from the bottom of the stairs. I glanced over at the clock to realize it was four already so I crossed into the adjoining bathroom and started the shower.

Today was my thirteenth birthday and I was excited. My friends and relatives were throwing me a big party out on the beach this year, all of the gang would be there, Aunt Emily, Kim, my parents, Kendall, and Seth's new girlfriend, Lindsay. This was considered big for me being that I didn't have very many friends and that my family mattered the most to me.

I finally finished showering and cut off the taps and stepped out. I wrapped the fuzzy towel around me and stepped over to the counter, I applied some serums to my hair and then began to blow dry it. When it was finally dry I kept the towel around me and went into my bedroom. I carefully unzipped the garment bag hanging from my closet door and pulled my dress out of the bag. It was a beautiful patterned dress with yellow circles. It came down to my knees and had a halter top. It had contrasted beautifully with my skin tone and hair. I sat it down on the bed and stepped back into the bathroom. I finished drying off and slipped my underclothes on and went back into my bedroom.

I walked over to my bed and picked the dress up and put it on, I carefully zipped the back of it up and glanced in the mirror. My attention was directed to the wolf pendant that hung from my neck, to this day I had never taken it off. It truly had become a part of me, something that reminded me of Quil, which made me happy. It gave me this weird gushy feeling inside. I glanced at the clock through the mirror and saw that it was already 5:15 so I hurried up and slipped my yellow converse on and grabbed my sunglasses off my dresser. I was halfway down the stairs when I remembered my camera, I ran back up and grabbed that too.

Finally at 5:30 we were out the door and on our way to First Beach where all our relatives awaited us.

**QUIL POV:**

Finally at 5:15 I got so tired of waiting that I went down to First Beach. I knew that I would be about 30 minutes early but I didn't care. I was so excited to see my Claire-Bear. I jumped into my truck and started the engine and pulled out of the driveway with the gift sitting in the front seat next to me. I stared at it and hoped that she would love it.

After a few minutes of driving and just plain thinking about her I reached my destination, and as promised all the pack was there setting up for Claire's birthday. Embry stood next to the pit cooking hamburgers with a beer in hand. Seth and his new imprint, Lindsay were walking along the shoreline and the waves were gently lapping against their feet as she leaned into his side and wrapped her arms around his waist. I looked away to see Leah and Emily sitting at a table chatting. Collin and Jacob were found toying with a boom box which sat upon a table. A huge stack of mixed Cd's sat next to them. Sam and Brady were found playing football on the beach. I smiled and jumped out of the car. I placed my gift on the table with the other presents.

"Lover Boy!" Jared yelled at me as he came from behind me with Kim at his side.

"Hello Quil, it's nice to see you," Kim simply said as she gave Jared a slap on the back of the head. I waved to both of them and then joined Brady and Sam in a game of football.

**CLAIRE POV:**

As we pulled up to First Beach I glanced out to see Sam and the rest of the gang (minus Leah) in a game of football. My eyes immediately focused on Quil. Quil in his shirtless form. I looked down as my cheeks became flushed with embarrassment. Embarrassment over my stupid little crush on Quil. He was so much older than me and I kept telling myself that nothing would ever happen. _'He's just your best friend', _I kept telling myself. But as much as I told myself...my heart had it's own thoughts as it sputtered out of control. He was running towards me. Sweat glistening off his chest as he neared the car. He took time to quickly throw on his white t-shirt.

I was so lost in my thoughts thinking about tonight that I didn't even notice him come up and open my door for me. It was only until I saw a tan hand reach up in front of me. I quickly grabbed and he helped me down from the car and directly into one of his famous bear hugs. He held me at arm's length and studied my attire for the evening. He gave me one of his goofy smiles which caused my heart to beat faster. I told it to slow down and stop but my heart always reacted when Quil was around.

I was broken from my thoughts as Quil bent down and whispered in my ear, "You look astonishing pipsqueak, you're growing up too fast." He rose up and reached for my hand as he pulled us back to the party zone.

We came up underneath the shaded pavilion. the inside was shrouded in a million twinkle lights. Tiki torches burned brightly outside. Embry stood cooking food as Emily and Leah sat at a picnic table underneath the pavilion chatting. Mesh domes covered all the other food scattered across a long table. In one corner of the pavilion stood a stack of gifts and one chair next to the table. Upon the tables made for eating a small arrangement of hibiscus flowers sat in the middle of each table. Plastic silverware and paper plates were sat in each place at the table. On either side of the arrangement of flowers sat a tea light candle which shone brightly as the sun set over the horizon. Tiny blue glass pebbles were scattered across the white table cloths on the tables. I would have to remember to thank Emily for this. Outside the pavilion surrounded by tiki torches was a wooden platform, in front of it stood a table with a large boom box and stacks of Cd's. No doubt this was the work of Collin and Jacob. I only guessed the platform was for dancing.

I just stood motionless for a moment next to Quil until everyone noticed the birthday girl was here. Once they did the 'pass-Claire-around-for-a-hug-fest' started. After nearly crushing my ribs I was finally put down. Aunt Emily came over to me and gave me a hug next.

"How do you like it?" she asked.

"I love it Aunt Em, thank you so much!" I replied.

We were cut short of our talking by all the boys rushing up and jumping to the table for food. Emily stepped in front of them all and yelled "HALT!" at the top of her lungs.

"Thank you," she continued "it is Claire's birthday not your's, so all you boys are going to wait until she is done fixing her plate." A chorus of 'sorry's' came from the boys. I heard a chuckle from behind me. Quil followed behind me with his hand on the small of my back as he led me to fix my plate. He picked one up himself and started making his plate. I was amazed at how much hamburger stuff there was. There must have been a couple hundred patties and buns! Enough to feed an army! I quickly fixed myself one burger as Quil followed behind fixing himself 5.

"How come Quil gets to go second," Embry whined. I turned and looked at him as he stood with the rest of the gang. He was wearing his "Will work for beer" apron and a chef's hat. I turned around and said "Because I said so, Embry." Quil just smiled next to me as he poured two glasses of Dr. Pepper for us and we took our seats at one of the beautifully decorated tables.

"How do you eat so much?" I asked as I pointed to his food.

He gave me that goofy smile and said "Cause I'm a growing boy, Claire-Bear." I just laughed as he continued to wolf **(A/N: No pun intended.) **the rest of his food down. I ate as the rest of the people at my party fixed their plates and took a seat. I noticed Kendall came in a little late, she fixed her plate and sat at the table with Quil, Jake, Embry, and myself.

"Hey C, sorry I'm late," she said.

"It's O.K. Kendall, at least you made it," I said as I gave her a hug. She turned to me and whispered into my ear "Jesus Christ Claire, they're hot!" I just laughed at her.

I turned back to the table to see Jacob and Embry looking towards us with grins plastered on their faces. Kendall was still looking all dreamy eyed. I just cocked my head to the side and wondered if they heard what she said.

"Uh guys this is Kendall, Kendall this is Jacob, Embry, and you already know Quil," I quickly introduced her to them. She shyly waved and sat next to me.

We finished eating we made our way over to the present stack. I sat down in the chair next to the stack while everyone stayed seated at their tables. Finally once everything was situated I started opening all the presents.

First up I opened a card from Leah to find a Hot Topic Gift Card. Next Came the Present from Jacob and Embry which was a big present. I tore the paper and found the brand new Guitar Hero 4 game set. I screamed in delight. The next gift came from my parents and it was a cell phone. I opened up another gift from Collin, Brady, Seth, and Lindsay to find an Ipod and a sleeve to wear it in while I was running, along with a fully waterproof case to take it surfing in. The next gift was from Kendall, and it was a gift card to my other favorite store, Rue 21. Sam and Emily's gift was next and it was a full art kit, sketch pad, and a fold-able easel. Jared and Kim had given me a new pair of converse, the Tye-dye ones I had been hoping for.

Finally last but not least, I unwrapped the gift I knew I would love. As tradition from over the years, I reached for Quil's gift last. I carefully untied the bow on top of the box and lifted the lid. A small gasp came from my lips as I opened and closed the box again, just to make sure that it was real. I ran my fingers over the top of it and closed the lid. I started on a full on run toward Quil with the box in hand. He stood up knowing what to expect, and I crashed into him with a full force hug. He just laughed as he hugged back.

I stood back and opened the box and finally screamed. "H-How could you get these?" I asked.

"Anything for you Claire-Bear." he simply said.

"I can't believe I'm going to see the Stone Temple Pilots, ohmygosh!!" I screamed again.

"There's two tickets in there so you can take someone else," he said.

"Well of course you're coming, silly." I replied.

The rest of the night was spent dancing the night away on the dance floor. We all laughed and had a good time. Especially when Embry got drunk and won the dance off between him and Jared. All I can say is that I had a hard time judging but Embry had a mean sprinkler, Jared's lawnmower could not compare. Overall today, my birthday just rocked!

**A/N: Here is one long a-- chapter for you, for my lack of updating. I have had writer's block a bit and been busy packing for vacation...I'll be writing on the car ride there so expect some more chapters soon. Yeah lucky Claire she gets STP tickets. --mumbles and curses under breath-- of course I don't because I'm going on vacation and it's only been about 8 years since they've been on tour --continues rambling-- Anyways I'm not going to beg for reviews but maybe I'll give you a nice surprise if you review...as soon as I think of what's going in the next chapter...for you who are anonymous...sorry you should register though . Peace guys!**


	13. SORRY

A/N: OMEC (Oh my Edward Cullen) You have no clue how sorry I am for not updating. It's been HORRIBLE here at home. I've been having problems at home and been so busy. Tomorrow I will try my hardest to sit down and write out a chapter. I know I'm such a horrible no good author to leave everyone so bored. But I promise the next chapter will launch the story off the ground...no more fluff (for now, being I love fluff)...I just got back from vacation too so yeah.

Just as a suggestion while you're waiting...go read The Host by Stephenie...it's great. Oh and I also got a username change...lol...and if you've already read The Host then you should be busy making tshirts with your iron ons from special edition Eclipse. I still have mine yet to do...gotta wear my Team Edward shirt to the release party. Ok ttyl readers...I am NOT giving up on you...just sitting here in my misery wishing I could be in a love triangle...square with Quil, Edward, and Ian lol!

MIO (MrsIanOshea)


	14. I Met a Boy

**A/N: Oh My Edward Cullen. My dear readers please don't hate me. If only you knew. I have had a mess to deal with, I've been taking care of a sick grandmother, my aunt has cancer and has been sick, and on top of that it's summer. Yes it's finally here and hopefully you'll like the new path the story is on...Oh and I may have a new story out soon...all I can say is...Band Camp baby. :O Oh and I am VERY sorry this chapter isn't longer, but I'll have some of Quil and his hot self in the next chapter haha. **

**Chapter 13: I Met a Boy.**

_"Nothing lasts forever. Live it up, drink it down. Laugh it off. Avoid the bullshit. Take chances and never have regrets because at one point everything you did was exactly what you wanted then." --Unknown._

_**2 years later...**_

_**(This means Claire is now 15)**_

**Claire POV:**

The last two years of my life had been pretty uneventful, to me at least. It was the usual, go to school, come home and hang out with Quil and the gang, surfing on the weekends and just being with family. Nothing had really changed, Quil and I were still attached at the hip. We were best friends, although I secretly wished it were more. But it would never happen, how could he want anyone like me? He was too old for me and unbelievably gorgeous, sometimes I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. He was always cryptic about his age, always saying I'm about 20-something. What was that all about? Even though he was weird I still had a tiny crush on him...scratch that, it was a monster crush. But on the inside I was confused about the whole situation.

Today was the first day of my sophomore year at La Push High. I dreaded it, I was condemned to that place for eight hours a day. Nothing ever happened there, there were no cute boys. It was just boring, that's why I waited for the day to end to be with Quil.

I switched the alarm off that sat next to my bed and rolled out reluctanly from underneath the blankets. I made my way to the bathroom and fixed my hair, brushed my teeth, and washed my face. Walking back into my room I got dressed in the clothes I had sat out last night, a black Pink Floyd t-shirt, my favorite jeans and my highlighter yellow converse. I undressed out of my pajamas and threw the shirt on, and pulled my jeans on. I sat on the edge of my bed and tied my converse up, making sure to double knot the peace sign shoe laces I had through them. I had a thing about tripping over my shoelaces and embarrassing myself. I grabbed my backpack off the desk on the wall beside my bed and slung it over my shoulders.

I turned the tv off that was playing music videos on Vh1 and flicked the lights off as I made my way down the stairs. Taking two stairs at a time in anticipation of seeing Quil I made it to the bottom quickly. I grabbed a granola bar off the counter in the kitchen along with my keys off the hook and made my way out the door locking it behind me. Quil still wasn't here. I sighed in disappointment and sat on the steps of the porch while I nibbled on my granola bar. I admired the sunrise and watched two squirrels as they quarrelled and chased each other up a tree. A small rabbit hopped into the protection of the forest and the birds sounded in the trees. It was all beautiful. Claire the nature lover, that was me.

Interrupting my thoughts a loud horn sounded causing me to jump and fall off the porch steps onto the dewy grass. I gathered up my things and hopped off the porch steps to Quil as he waited for me in the truck, grinning. I glared daggers at him. I climbed into the cab and shut the door behind me.

"Good morning sunshine," Quil said enthusiastically.

"Yeah until you showed up," I muttered. Amazingly he heard me.

"Aw come on Claire, you know I couldn't resist, plus you need to wake up anyways," he smiled adoringly at me and I was lost at that moment. That smile melted my heart.

"Uh...um what were you saying?" I asked snapping out of my daze.

"See what I mean?" he laughed. I scowled in response.

"Be lucky you're the best friend, buddy," I warned.

"I'm honored." he smiled again. Ugh, dumb emotions.

Surprisingly the ride went by so fast. We were pulled up at the school, and I did not want to leave the truck.

"Claire Bear you have to go," Quil said, voice firm yet gentle. I sighed and opened the door.

"Fine but one day I'm going to go crazy from having to be comitted to eight hours of this torture and it's all your fault."

"I'll be here at three sharp to pick you up, I'm sorry Claire."

"Bye Quilly."

"Bye Claire Bear."

With that I slammed the door, smiled and trotted off. I entered through the doors just as the bell rang and I headed off to my advisory class to obtain my schedule and spend the hour there.

The day had been boring. Teachers explaining rules, reading assignments, people asking how summer was, blah, blah, blah. I was so ready to get out. Claire the loner hated school.

I walked into my seventh hour class and took a seat by the window. I took out my notebook to prepare for a lecture and writing down things I needed to remember. I retrieved a pen and then the bell rang and class had begun. This was my English II class so I pulled the novel out we were to do our assignment over, in the process I managed to knock my pen off the desk.

Just as I was about to grab it, I heard a smooth voice from the desk beside me. "I believe you dropped this."

I turned to look and I silently gasped. The boy staring up at me was gorgeous. He had shaggy jet black hair which hung to his shoulders and beautiful shining eyes, they seemed to be an odd shade of purple. He had broad shoulders and you could see the contours of his chest through the tshirt he wore.

He handed the pen to me. "I'm Gavin by the way."

"Uh ... C-claire, yeah that's my name." ugh I was such a dork. As if the stuttering wasn't enough, I was blushing, bright red like a tomato.

"Are you sure about that?" he questioned playfully.

"Yeah, sorry about that, but are you new here?"

"Yeah I just moved here from Canada."

"Welcome to La Push." I said.

"Thanks."

Our conversation was interupted by Mr. Berty "Ah Miss Young since you seem to be paying so much attention, can you tell me the antagonist of the story?" he asked. Dumb shit, I read the story like a million times as it was one of my favorites I thought to myself. I replied to his question, making him look like the idiot. I hated my teachers.

Finally at 3 sharp, the bell rang noisily, everyone rose from their seats and dashed out the door. I gathered up my things and made my way out also. Half way down the hall someone bumped into me, as I turned around to see who it was I was met by purple eyes.

"Sorry that jerk over there shoved me." Gavin said apologizing.

"S'okay," I said with a smile.

We walked to the entrance in an awkward silence, and he opened the door for me as we left the building. As promised Quil sat in the truck, waiting obediantly for me. I made my way to the car as I was stopped by Gavin's voice.

"It was nice meeting you Claire," he said.

As I walked away I mumbled 'likewise' and as I turned my head I saw him grinning and chuckling. Weird.

I quickly jumped into the truck with Quil and as always he asked, "How was your day?"

I blushed a little and replied with the usual, "Fine." Quil however noticed the blush and knew something was up.

"What happened Claire, you're not telling me everything." he said. I blushed even more.

I could confide in him, right? He was my best friend and he would understand. I hope he would. He was growing impatient "Claire what happened?" he asked again.

"I met a boy," I replied in a soft whisper.

At that moment Quil slammed on the brakes causing me to slam forward and the cars behind us to honk and yell profanities.

He roared "WHAT?!" I cowered in fear in my seat. I didn't know he would get so upset, but why?

The rest of the ride home was in silence. Quil was shaking really bad and his knuckles were as white as a ghost as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. I shouldn't have said anything, I was stupid. He was so angry, he was fuming.

After what seemed like an eternity we reached my house, and Quil didn't stay, he said he had some business to take care of and he would be by in the morning to pick me up. I waved goodbye and as he pulled out of the driveway, one lone tear slid down my cheek. A traitor tear. I swear I saw his face contort into a frown as he looked towards me from the road in front of my house, which I ran into and straight up into my bedroom to sort things out. I couldn't understand why he was so mad. Gavin and I weren't even dating. It was weird, but then again my whole life was weird and all the people in it.

**A/N: Oooh what will happen next? Maybe you should keep reading. lol. I am not going to beg for reviews but they are appreciated. They'll make me feel better. Feel free to share ideas, I might put them in the story. And as for those of you who want the romance, be patient. If you're looking for smut look somewhere else...I do not have expertise in writing it lol. Go read Alice Laughed's Quil/Claire stories...they're adorable and that's what got me started on this saga. Ok till then peace out!**

**MrsIanOshea**


	15. Teardrops on Roses

**A/N: Thank you for everything you guys...lol and the 2 reviews! Here is the next chapter...I'll be flip flopping POV'S.**

**Chapter 14: Teardrops on Roses.**

_"I'm fighting myself to get you out of my head, but I'm hanging off of every word you said."--Unknown._

**QUIL POV**

I pulled slowly away from the driveway. I looked towards Claire. She was frozen in place, and I could smell it...and see it. A single tear ran down her beautiful face. I wish I were there to hold her and kiss it away telling her it would all be better but I was too dangerous at the moment. Tremors shook through my whole body and I tried to race home. On my way out I looked to Claire and my face contorted into a frown as I sped off. Moisture pooled in my eyes and I let it all go. Tears streaked down my face. I sobbed uncontrollably at what was happening. One more damn year and it would've been OK. I knew how beautiful she was and there was no doubt in my mind that this 'boy' would be after her.

I finally pulled into the familiar driveway of home. I closed the door and phased automatically as the tremors became more violent with me thinking of anyone else with Claire. She was too good for them. She was even too good for me. I ran into the woods and just kept running. I didn't put any barriers in my mind, and Sam and Embry who were on patrol saw it all.

_"Sorry man," Embry thought._

_"Quil it will be ok, I promise," Sam thought._

I sighed and kept running. Running away from my problems. Away from my life. Running until it all made sense to me.

**CLAIRE POV**

After the familiar truck disappeared from site I ran into the house. Tears began streaking down my face as I ran to my bed and let it all loose. I stayed up there all night, not caring what my parents thought. I was broken right now at the damage I had caused. I plugged in a CD, and I cried myself to sleep over the mess I had caused. I wondered what had Quil so bothered? But I guess that was Quil, just overprotective. Still on the inside something kept telling me that he wasn't telling me something.

I woke up screaming. I looked to the clock and it was five in the morning. I had had the dream again, the one about the stranger in the forest with the blood red eyes, and the strange cloak, as he came closer to me the fear had set in as he neared my neck. That's when I woke up. I had had this dream before and to me, the stranger seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it.

I sighed knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep any longer. I began to get ready for school earlier, first taking a hot shower to work all the tension out. I hoped Quil was picking me up this morning, maybe we could talk about things.

Once I was dressed and ready to go I realized I had 30 minutes before anyone arrived to pick me up. I double checked my homework and read a few chapters of a book I had been reading over the past week. I nibbled on a granola bar as I did so.

Finally I heard a car horn honk, and I jumped up and grabbed my things, hoping to see him. I made my way out the door, locked it, and picked up my key and turned around. My heart sunk in my chest as I realized it was only Embry. I walked to the car, frown in place.

Embry greeted me good morning with that goofy smile he always wore. I just smiled a little in return. He back out of the driveway and we made our way onto the highway to school. I just looked out the window.

Finally he spoke up, "Pipsqueak, what's wrong, you're worrying me."

I shrugged. He knew what the problem was. I looked over to his face and he knew something else he wasn't telling me. "You know where Quil is." I said, not a question but a statement.

He sighed, and muttered some profanities under his breath, which was Embry like. I looked over at him to realize he was serious for once. "Yes."

"Where is he?" I asked my voice quivering as tears pooled up in my eyes.

"Claire Bear, he just...he's out of town, he'll be back really soon, OK?" he said with a sincere smile.

"It's my fault isn't it?" my voice still quivered but the tears did not fall.

"Of course not," he said. I could tell he was lying though. "Sam sent him away on some business."

"What kind of business?" I asked. I had always wondered about this, it always felt like they were keeping things from me, which I hated.

"I can't say, it's super secret." Embry said with a goofy smile.

"Ok come on Em, you can tell ME, right?" I asked punching his arm.

He only shook his head being serious now, "That's not my business to tell, it's Quil's."

"Oh." was all I managed to say. I still wondered why he didn't tell me, and I was upset by it too, because I told him everything about me, but yet he was keeping something from me?

"OK pipsqueak, we're here." Embry said as he pulled up to the school.

"Will Quil pick me up?" I asked, hope in my tone.

"I'll be here to pick you, squirt, now get going before you're late." he gave me a goofy smile and I closed the door and walked off. Sad, that Quil wasn't here to pick me up.

Finally seventh hour rolled around. I was a little excited, but yet a little upset. I walked in to find placed upon my desk, one single red rose. I gasped and rushed over to my desk. A small note was written beside it. I picked it up and read:

_Dear Claire,_

_A beautiful rose for a beautiful girl. There's more where this came from._

_Sincerely,_

_Admirer._

The note was written in a very fancy cursive handwriting. Just then the bell rang, and I quickly stuck the rose in my backpack carefully not to smoosh it. I looked behind me to see Gavin smiling towards me. I gave him a small smile and concentrated on the work for today. The whole time I wondered who this Admirer person could be. There was truly only one person I hoped it could be but my hopes were dashed. I sighed and continued working.

At last the bell rang that released us, and I gathered up my supplies, took my rose out of my backpack and loaded those in. I realized I'd have to carry it, so I made my way out the door. I wanted to catch up with Gavin but he was already gone out the door and down the hallway. I walked to the front doors rather quickly still hoping that maybe Quil would be here. But it was only Embry as he looked towards the entrance to me with a goofy smile, but stopped when he realized the rose in my hand. I almost saw a twinge of what I thought was...hurt? sadness?

I climbed into the cab and said a quiet hello. He smiled at me again.

"So who's the rose from, squirt?" he asked, curiosity colored his tone.

"I really don't know," I told him honestly. "Oh but I did get a note," I said.

"Am I allowed to read it?" he asked.

"Um, sure, here," I replied as I handed him the note. He read it, smirking. He handed it back over to me. I saw him look away and mumble something like "Have to get my gun out now since Quil's not here."

I laughed to myself at that. Finally after a quiet ride we came up to my house.

As I went to crawl out of the car, I turned to Embry to ask, "Will Quil be back tomorrow?"

"I doubt it," he said with a sad smile.

_I doubt it._ Three little words. Three little words that crushed my hope.

**A/N: Ooh so who is admirer? Guess you'll have to read to find out! So yup, leave me a review, it would be appreciated. Ideas, praise, constructive critism...please no flames. Thanks dear readers!! **

**Mrs.IanOshea**


	16. Double Trouble?

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! This update was just a tad bit slower than the last two due to me reading Breaking Dawn, Band Camp, and a hurricane that decided it would head straight for us! So please understand why it was not here sooner...and that I do have a life outside fanfiction my dear impatient readers ;) I am not giving up, but I do want to say DO NOT READ THIS NEXT STATEMENT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BREAKING DAWN ... SPOILER ALERT!!**

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_**I am keeping this story as it is. AU...due to the plot change in Breaking Dawn. I do not feel like writing the splitting of the two packs and all the Renesmee mess...so for now Jacob is going to be a grieving bachelor and Renesmee never existed and Sam is still an alpha to all of the pack. Sorry guys! Btw wasn't the Quil/Claire shot on the beach absolutely adorable? Squee!! **_

**END OF SPOILER ALERT THANK YOU!!**

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**Chapter 15: Double Trouble?**

_"Love is just a word until you find someone special to give it a definition," --Unknown_

**Claire POV:**

Another day passed by. Another day without my best friend, it just felt incomplete without Quil. I crawled out of my bed this morning, and slammed my fist down on the off button of my ringing alarm clock. I groaned as I made my way to the bathroom where I brushed my teeth and washed my face. When I finished up there I made my way over to the closet and picked out an outfit to wear today. I decided on jeans, white t-shirt, and an old hoodie of Quil's, it was huge on me but it reminded me of him, and I needed that right now, for this was the first time we had been apart in a long time. I threw the clothes on, straightened my hair, and laced up my converse. Picking up my homework from my desk and shoving it in my backpack, I climbed down the stairs. When I reached the bottom I grabbed an apple and began munching on it as I watched Vh1 video wake up.

After a few minutes I heard a loud honk outside, and I threw my apple in the trash and walked to the door. I locked it and stuck the key in my pocket. I turned around slowly hoping for him, but Embry's three little words rang in my mind 'I doubt it' and they rang true. Sitting in my driveway was Jacob in his Rabbit. He put on a small smile for me as I climbed into the car. I sighed as I sat down.

"Hey Claire," he said quietly, sensing my disappointment.

"Morning Jake," I replied monotonously. He turned and began to back out of the driveway. I just stared out the side window, something I had always done while I was deep in thought.

Eventually Jake got tired of the silence and spoke up, "You wanna talk about it short stuff?"

"No."

He went back to driving. "I understand. Just remember I'm here if you need me."

A couple more minutes went by in silence as we glided along the highway. Right before we arrived to school I turned to Jake, "Is he going to be back or not?" I asked, my voice wavering a bit.

"I'm pretty sure, he doesn't like being away from you for too long." he said smiling at me. My day had automatically gotten a little brighter, I couldn't wait to get out to see Quil.

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I impatiently tapped my number two pencil against the desk. The eraser thudded against the laminate. _Thud! Thud! Thud! _The bell rang as class was called to order. Thank goodness that this was the last class of the day, I was about to pop from excitement.

"Please get with a partner and complete this Venn diagrams over the shared traits and different personality traits of the antagonist and protagonist characters in the novel." our teacher announced cutting me out of my thoughts.

_Great! _I thought. I'd probably be stuck with some stupid prep cheerleader or a dumb jock. That was usually my luck. But then a cool hand tapped my shoulder and I quickly turned around. Gavin looked to me and smiled that smile that absolutely dazzled me, "Will you be my partner?"

"Uh sure," I replied blushing a little.

He went back to his desk across the aisle and picked up his worksheet and a pen, then brought a chair next to my desk and turned it backwards and sat down. We worked through the rest of the worksheet and surprisingly he was smarter than I gave him credit for. This boy was definitely the full package. When we finished we had some free time left to talk.

I was still thinking about Quil when Gavin interrupted me, "So Claire, I saw the rose on the desk yesterday, who was it from? Boyfriend?"

"Uh no, I'm not sure really, it had a note attached and all it said was 'admirer'." I replied.

"Oh how interesting, have any clues of who it might be?" he asked.

"I have no clue, but I hope he reveals himself pretty soon." I said. The only thing I really had to identify this admirer person was handwriting. I glanced over at Gavin's paper and noticed that his scrawl didn't match the fancy loopy handwriting of the paper.

As I was thinking about this admirer person the bell had rung and I shot up out of my seat and ran to my locker. I twisted my combination into the lock, not even messing up, and was about to throw my books in when something I saw stopped me. Propped up against my books and the far wall of my locker sat two roses, one white and one red tied together by a red satin ribbon. A small note was neatly folded next to the roses. I picked it up and all it said was 'admirer'. Again, the note was written in a fancy, loopy handwriting.

But snapping back into reality and knowing Quil was waiting for me, I shoved the note in my pocket, pulled the roses out and ran down the hallway to the door. I pushed the bar across the door and bolted outside to the front. There parked in the parking lot in his old truck was Quil, smiling my favorite smile and waiting for me. I ran to him, dropped my stuff and gave him a bear hug. I buried my face into his chest as I inhaled his scent. It smelt woodsy, with the smell of salty sea breeze and the ocean. Finally he put me back down and looked at me.

"I missed you," we both said at the same time.

"Jinx!" I yelled. We both laughed. I gathered my things as we made our way to the doors of the car and hopped in. I sat the roses on the floor board beside my feet and sat on the seat with my backpack still strapped to my back. Quil got in and started the car.

"So how was the trip to Canada?" I asked as he pulled from the school lot and onto the highway.

"Oh it was boring, and pretty cold too," he said as he gazed out his windshield. It was as if he were hiding something, whenever he talked about things like this he never looked me in the eyes. It just bothered me, but not wanting to ruin the moment, I didn't want to bother him about it.

"You're not going back anytime soon are you?" I asked, getting a little worried.

"Not planning on it," he turned and smiled to me. But then his gaze turned the floor board where he saw the two roses. He didn't react, which was good.

We rode the rest of the way to my house in a comfortable silence, not that we were mad at each other, or that it was awkward, we were just enjoying being in one another's presence. Finally we turned onto my street. Going down the street we passed the neighbor's houses, until finally we reached mine and he pulled into the driveway.

We both went inside as I took my key from my pocket and unlocked the door. I sat my backpack on the table along with the roses, and grabbed a glass of water from the cabinet and then the roses from the table. I ran upstairs with both, surprisingly not spilling the water, to add them to the vase with the one rose I had collected yesterday. I could hear Quil downstairs raiding the fridge. I chuckled, he had made a habit of that ever since we'd known each other.

I lingered a little longer in my room, and started to clean it up a little when Quil joined me upstairs in my room. He sat down at the desk chair, looking towards the vase of roses situated on one of the window sills in my room.

"So I'm dying to know, who are they from?" Quil mumbled while munching on a sandwich which was disgusting and cute at the same time.

"You know you should chew your food and swallow it before you talk."

"You're avoiding my question Claire." he stated.

"I don't know who they're from, all the notes say is 'admirer'."

"Oh," he said "Well be careful this person may just turn out to be a psychopath."

I looked at the serious expression on his face and laughed. Really hard.

"What? I'm serious Claire." That only caused me to laugh harder. And caused Quil to frown.

"Oh I'm sorry you big old baby!" I said finally getting over the giggles.

He just stuck his tongue covered in chewed up sandwich out at me.

"Ugh, disgusting, real mature Quil, real mature."

Then we both laughed together. I was glad to have Quil back

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**A/N: Yay Quil is back! But who is admirer? Ok dear readers, you know the drill, leave me some reviews please! I need an idea of what the next note from admirer will say, so if you will a suggestion would be nice ;) leave it in a review and let me know how I'm doing! Peace!**

**MIO**


	17. Admirer Strikes Again

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and inputs!! No ideas for the love notes? Oh jeez now I must think and it is summer time dear readers! lol! OK here's the next chappie...read on!**

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**Chapter 17: Admirer Strikes Again**

_"She was given 12 roses. 11 Real and 1 Fake. When she asked why one of the roses was fake, he replied "I love you until the last rose dies" Forever."--Unknown_

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**CLAIRE POV**

I began the daily routine, today was Thursday, and as I did every morning, I smacked the alarm clock that was noisily ringing with my fist. It stopped. I slowly slid out of bed. Thank gosh that tomorrow just so happened to be Friday. I sauntered over to the bathroom adjoining my room and brushed my teeth and washed my face.

Coming out of the bathroom I went to the closet and pulled out my favorite pair of blue jeans and my Disturbed shirt. I slid out of my pajamas and threw the clothes on. Walking over to the dresser I flicked the straightening iron on. While waiting for it to heat up, I sat on the bed and put on socks I had set out with my outfit. I laced up my favorite pair of yellow converse that Quil and I had tricked out.

Walking back over to the dresser I straightened my hair carefully taking it layer by layer. Finally adding in some frizz away gel, I stuck my favorite white and black polka dot clippy bow in it. I picked up my backpack and papers off the desk.

While getting my backpack together I glanced over to the roses thinking to myself. Who could admirer be? There was truly only one person I could ever hope it would be, but why would he do it? I thought about what Quil said. What if admirer turned out to be a psychopath or something?

But deciding that I was being very paranoid I dropped it all and turning the lights off I ran down the stairs, excited to get today over with. Grabbing the normal breakfast of a granola bar, I wolfed it down and made my way out the door locking it behind me. I noticed I was early so I sat on the porch waiting.

A loud honk erupted from the driveway. I opened my eyes to see Embry in his truck waiting for me. What the heck? Where was Quil?

I mad my way over to the passenger side of the door with a puzzled expression on my face. I opened the door handle and climbed in, Embry greeted me, "Hey squirt!"

"Hey Em, where's Quil at?"

"Um Sam has him on some business runs again, so he won't be here today," he said, stuttering a little. I knew there was something he was leaving out.

"Oh." I simply said. I knew something was up and I was getting pretty mad at Quil here lately with him keeping this secret thing from me.

The rest of our car ride was spent in silence, out of habit I just stared blankly out the window. Deep in thought about everything. The car jolted to a stop when Embry pulled up to the school. I saw his face contort a little as if he had smelt something putrid.

"Okay well I gotta get to work pipsqueak, have a nice day at school." he said quickly. I hopped out of his truck and slammed the door shut, I was pretty irritated with everyone acting so weird. No sooner that the door had slammed shut Embry shot out of the parking lot like a cheetah on cocaine. Was there something wrong with ME?

I quickly brushed it off as I walked into class. Today was bound to be a long day.

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My seventh hour class finally rolled around after what seemed like forever, I was truly ready to go home today. Luckily I didn't have too much homework. Most of class today was spent getting lectures and taking notes, most of the information I already knew so that meant nap time for me.

I walked into class ready for another boring lecture but I stopped. Sitting in the basket beneath my desk was one dozen blood red roses. They were all tied together with two ribbons both of red and white satin. I gasped and quickly made my way over to my desk. I was one of the only students in the room at the moment, and the teacher hadn't arrived there yet.

Sitting next to the bundle of roses was another note, this time on a piece of fancy stationary. Again it was written in the fancy loopy scrawl same as before,

_Dearest Claire,_

_Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday right? This had gotten pretty fun, but I'm hoping to reveal myself soon. Tomorrow possibly. If you're interested meet me at the track behind school tomorrow. I will be waiting for you..._

_Sincerely,_

_Admirer_

Wow. I am definitely going to see who this was messing with me. I placed the bundle of roses in the top of my backpack as class started. Tomorrow would definately be interesting. I was looking forward to it, but for some reason I was also worried. Like I knew that maybe something sounded a little off and maybe this whole thing was dangerous? But that was me I was always a little paranoid.

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**EMBRY POV**

I drove away as quick as I could from Claire's school. As I did I picked up a very faint smell of leech in the nearby forest. Here lately we had been having a lot of trouble with them in the area. I parked my car at my house after speeding like a maniac to get there. I threw all my clothes off and threw them in the cab quickly phasing and running into the forest. Paul and I were the only ones on patrol at the moment and he saw the scent run through my mind and we both ran to the forest.

At the very center of the forest the trail immediately stopped. I looked around and there was evidence that one of them was here. Sitting next to a tree was a dead corpse. The life had been sucked from it, the blood was drained and it had suffered injuries in what looked like a fight with the bloodsucker.

I examined the body to find that whoever it was appeared to be an adult. It was also female. Paul shuddered in horror as he saw her.

_'How could this happen? The trail stops here! Damn leeches.' _he thought angrily.

_'I don't know this is really weird and this must mean that this leech has a special power or something to disguise its smell, that is very bad,_' I thought back. This was the only thing I could think of.

We both looked at each other in frustration, horror, and worry. Now we would all be on red alert, especially those of us with imprints. Even this close to the school, I feared for Claire's safety, as she was like a little sister to me.

Speaking of Claire I had to pick her up. Paul saw my thoughts and said he would take care of things here and let Sam and the others know.

My paws padded the ground as I ran in a steady rhythm back to my truck. When I finally got there I quickly phased back and threw on my clothes. I hopped in the driver's seat of the truck and realized I was right on time to pick her up. I backed out of the driveway and cruised down the highway until I reached the high school.

There waiting out front for me was Claire, I was thankful she was okay after what Paul and I had seen this morning. But in her hand was a bundle of one dozen blood red roses. Oh jeez Quil was really going to flip over this one. I'll have to be sure not to mention this in front of him, I don't think I could handle his moodiness.

When she saw me she walked over to the car and threw the door open and climbed in.

"Hey Em, how was work?" she asked.

"Oh just the usual, a little stressful though," I said playing along.

"Hmph I guess I'll never know why it was so stressful," she mumbled.

"Nope that's Quil's secret to tell," I said. I knew she'd drop it then, hopefully.

"What's that, more of that 'admirer' business?" I asked pointing to the roses.

"Yeah, hey Embry I'm staying late tomorrow after school, do you think you could tell Quil to pick me up an hour later than usual?" she asked.

"Um I think I'll be here to pick you up, and I will, Quil is working the afternoon shift again tomorrow." I replied.

"Oh." was all she said as she began staring blankly out the window again.

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**A/N: ooh we have just a bit of a cliffy here...who is admirer? will they catch the vamp? where is Quil? WILL YOU LEAVE A REVIEW? lol. I won't leave you guys hanging too long...promise I have the day off from band camp tomorrow...and I'll be writing the next chapter tonight! I do hate cliffies. Oh and if you haven't already...and are looking for an AU twilight read...I have a new story out...Twilight Goes to Band Camp...I put the first chapter up yesterday...I'll be updating it again soon enough. OK that's it!**

**MIO**


	18. Final Wishes?

**A/N: You guys read too many fan fictions haha...but then again I'm not complaining! Read on! Also this is Chapter 17.5 because I totally skipped 16 lol the AN in 13 screwed the numbering up. Oh and yes I do know that Claire owns a lot of band shirts lol!**

**Chapter 17.5: Final Wishes?**

_"I love you, not only for what you are but but for what I am when I'm with you"--Roy Croft_

**CLAIRE POV**

My day started off like any other. But I knew today would be different. I had been tossing and turning all night long, the dream of the odd man in the forest still haunted me, it all seem to be intensified last night, I felt like it was real the last times I had it, but last night had felt like it was in high definition. It seemed even more real, the fear, everything.

Brushing off my weird dream I began my normal morning regiment and walked over to the closet pulling out a pair of jeans and my Sublime shirt. I laced up my converse and looked out the window, I was running a little late this morning Embry was already here. Not wanting to be late today I grabbed my things and ran through the door locking it first. I didn't grab breakfast either.

I ran around to the passenger door and yanked it open to be greeted by a very serious looking Embry. This was not normal at all. What had happened to the goofy guy I loved so much? He took a look at me and then turned staring out the windshield.

"Em, what's wrong?" I asked. I truly was worried.

"Nothing you need to worry about Claire," was all he said, without looking at me.

"Where's Quil? Is he OK?" I asked getting worried that something might be wrong with Quil.

"Quil is fine, he's at home sleeping now, your uncle had him working all last night and he's exhausted."

"I guess you won't tell me anything more?" I inquired.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he said curtly. There was something definitely wrong with Embry, he never acted like this.

But before I knew it we were pulled up at the school. As I left the car Embry turned to me, with an emotion of worry on his face, "Promise me, promise Quil that you'll be safe today?"

"Uh yeah I guess, why?" I was truly confused now.

"I have to work today and Seth is going to be picking you up this afternoon...he'll be here an hour later, and I am just worried because...just because I love you pipsqueak, and there's been some stuff going on around here." He smiled at me, but I knew it was a fake smile because there was something he wasn't telling me.

"I'll be fine, mom," I said mocking him, and with that I slammed the door and walked off. Moody men of La Push. First they act like they're mad at you and the next moment they love you, and they keep things from you. I knew something was up.

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Seventh hour class had finally rolled around. Everything I did just seemed to be like a blur today. Part of me, the paranoid side was worried about what Embry had said this morning, and the feeling I had when I woke up this morning. But the other part of me was excited, anxious. I was wondering who this admirer person was.

I looked over to the seat next to me to realize that Gavin wasn't here today. But my thoughts were cut out by the teacher walking in the door and starting class for the day.

We finished our lecture and I took a few notes and wrote down my homework assignment. Right as she finished the bell rang releasing us from the asylum for the day. I ran out of the classroom and to my locker. Before I threw my books in my locker I found a note sitting there. Okay so maybe this was getting a little creepy, whoever was doing this had obviously been watching me and knew my locker combination. But at this point I didn't care, all that was there were books.

I picked then note up and it read:

_Dearest Claire,_

_I'll be waiting for you..._

_Admirer_

Like all the other notes it was written in the fancy loopy scrawl as before. I threw it back in with the books in my locker and then headed for the back entrance of the school. The track was always open 24 hours a day. Many of the people in La Push came to run along the track after school was over. I however preferred running along First Beach.

Glancing out at the track I noticed it was empty all except for one person sitting on a bench on the far side of the track. They were bent over and I couldn't see their face, it was covered in a dark grey cloak. I then noticed it had started drizzling so I pulled the hood of my jacket up to cover my head and deposited my backpack on the bench next to the school doors.

The figure sitting on the bench sat as still as stone. I wondered it that was admirer? I really doubted it was. Figuring it was, I began to run the track to give me something to do. Running to me was exhilarating. I did it whenever I was stressed, it had always made me feel better. It was like it was the next best thing to flying.

When I passed the bench the figure shifted a little, and I slowed. I then heard a small whisper of a voice, "I'm right here."

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned. The figure on the bench was still sitting there slumped over. My mind was telling me to run away, I had no clue who this was, but my feet carried me over to the bench. The figure's head snapped up and a pair of blue-purplish eyes bored directly into my deep brown ones. I recognized them at once.

"Gavin?" I squeaked out.

"Come walk with me Claire," was all he said. I trusted him enough to walk with him right? My head was screaming no, but I followed anyways.

He took my hand in his and I shivered at the coldness. "Gavin you're freezing!" I exclaimed.

"I know." he replied curtly.

We walked further into the forest until we reached a small clearing of trees. We must have been in the very heart of the forest behind the school. I was very worried as to why he brought me here. This was getting really weird. I walked further into the clearing and sat on a small stump of a tree that must have fallen over. Gavin walked around absent minded. I just sat staring.

Finally he walked over to me and held my chin, "So beautiful."

I blushed a little at his words, I saw his eyes change, a flash of desire in them? He sat there holding my chin and staring into my eyes for what seemed like an eternity until I spoke up.

"Seth is going to be here to pick me up in an hour," I said in a whisper.

"Oh now is he?" he replied getting a little angry now. "Are you completely sure about that?"

"Y-yes." I stuttered a little, this was a new side to him. I pulled my face out of his hand. I was getting really worried by now and I wanted to run away but for some reason I couldn't. It was as if something was luring me here, and I was anchored to the spot by a two ton anvil. I couldn't move.

"Oh no you don't you little twit," he growled as he grabbed my face again with force. I whimpered. And tried to jerk back but was unsuccessful. He ran his nose along my neck and closed his eyes.

"So sweet," he said to himself. Continuing on he said, "Do you know how long I resisted to your call?"

I was completely lost. "What the hell are you talking about?" I squeaked out, I was getting pretty mad now.

"See Claire, you smell absolutely mouth watering," his eyes were glazed over in hunger, just who and WHAT was this guy?

"Am I supposed to say thank you, who...no WHAT are you?" I asked. I was pretty pissed off by now. Quil was right this guy was a psychopath.

He chuckled, "No Claire my dear, you don't say thank you, unless you are perhaps suicidal?"

This guy was here to kill me. Oh my god what was I supposed to do now? If I did run I had no chance in hell of getting away. I already knew this guy wasn't normal.

"My dear, what am I? You are quite perceptive, any guesses? Humor me," he said.

"I'm sorry but I'm not feeling humorous right now," I replied angrily.

"Listen here, do you want to die you little bitch?" he said growling at me.

"Does it matter anyways? I am suicidal by what you say, that's what you're here to do, right? Kill me?" I said questioning him.

"Fine, have a hint," he said as he flashed me a mouthful of white teeth. That was the hint he gave me. It all snapped at that moment, Gavin wasn't human. Gavin was a vampire...

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**A/N: Oh my lol. What a nice bit of info? ha. You guys are too good. Okay okay so maybe the next chapter will be up by tonight. I do so hate cliffies too dear readers. Will Claire be rescued? What will happen to Gavin? Who knows? I do! lol. Thanks for reading...drop me a review!**

**MIO**


	19. Claire's turn to say You're What?

**A/N: Well I didn't leave you hanging for too long did I? lol. I think not. Longest Chapter to date!**

**Chapter 18: Claire's turn to say YOU'RE WHAT?**

_"Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."--Mark Twain_

**CLAIRE POV**

It had all clicked in my mind then. Gavin was a vampire. Gavin was not human, and most of all Gavin was here to kill me and there was absolutely nothing at all that I could do about it. There was no one around to hear my screams. No one to avenge my murderer. Embry's words rang through my mind. Was this part of the secret? Was this the trouble he was talking about?

I looked up into Gavin's eyes and gasped. They weren't the same color, instead of a purplish blue they were now a deep crimson red.

He saw my surprise, "Oh so I guess it all clicked then right?" I nodded. He chuckled.

"Y-your eyes," I stuttered.

"Oh yes I do suppose that the venom had dissolved the contacts by now, oh it was such a pain to keep up the appearance of a human."

Venom? I had no clue that vampires were venomous. This was getting weirder by the second. But did it all really matter anymore?

He circled around me. "So I'm guessing this is the point where you scream and run away?"

"Does it matter? You would catch me if I tried."

"Oh but the fighters are always so much more sweeter," he said.

"Heaven forbid that I make your life any easier buddy," I spat at him.

"So I suppose this is the point where one of your beloved werewolves comes out and saves the day?" he said.

I was taken back by his words. Did this have to do with the secret? Was that what they were? Why wouldn't they tell me? Did they think it would put me in danger?

"I don't have any clue what you're talking about, as far as I was concerned vampires and werewolves only existed in fiction."

He chuckled. "You know I always found imprinting very interesting. I followed you, and observed."

He continued, "Ever since the wolves were discovered and their existence spread through the vampire world **(A/N: I said I was writing this pre-Breaking Dawn, but I am adding in this little bit, as I was planning to already so yeah...) **I became interested. I came to this town, and followed them, you see they never found me," he pointed to his head.

"Then I noticed you into the mix, and I followed you and you just smelled so sweet. I had to have you. You are so much of a challenge. Stealing a wolf's imprint? It only makes you sweeter."

He turned to look at me. I wore a shocked expression and followed nothing he was saying. What exactly was imprinting?

"But enough banter. I cannot resist any longer, it's time Claire," and with that, he was halfway across the clearing we were sitting in, within a half a second. Well at least I knew now that I wouldn't be able to outrun him.

I tried to scream but no air could escape my lungs. I was frozen in place. Gavin's thick black locks were drenched from the drizzling rain. His eyes were wild with desire and hunger. Blood lust. I had read about it before, in fiction, but it was actually reality now. He slowly made his way across the clearing, closer to me. He was moving slowly, increasing the fear in me.

"Just do it already if you're going to!" I screamed at him. He chuckled. He moved even slower.

Finally the distance between us was closed and he looked into my eyes and held my chin. He took in a deep breath savoring the scent, I guess. And then he went straight for my neck..

But before I could react a chocolate brown blur came out of nowhere and crashed into Gavin pushing him away from me. The wolves. They had avenged my murderer. I ran out of the way from where the wolf and the vampire were fighting.

Standing at the tree line I watched as they circled around each other, the wolf was now positioned in a spot in front of me, protecting me. Gavin lunged at my protector but the wolf was fast. I watched as he took a chunk of Gavin's arm off. Then I heard a metallic screech as the wolf had finished ripping parts of the vampire into little pieces.

The wolf came and stood next to me and before I knew it, a shirtless Embry came running into the clearing wearing only a pair of his standard cut offs. He didn't seem to care or acknowledge that I was standing next to a huge brown wolf. But instead he struck a few matches from his pocket and the pile of Gavin erupted into flames. The putrid smell of the smoke burned my nostrils.

When the pile was nothing but ash Embry turned towards us. He just stared at me before wrapping me up into a hug. Then he looked directly into the eyes of the wolf before speaking.

"Oh I see, you need to take Claire home, I guess I can loan you my cut offs, I'll meet you at Sam and Emily's?"

The wolf grunted as if he were saying yes. Before I knew it Embry was completely naked standing in the clearing, but before I could react or yell at him, he was running off in the other direction, replaced by a flash and a blur, as he took on his wolf form. Wow this was something I would have to get used to. People I loved walking around naked turning into gigantic wolves the size of horses.

Where Embry once stood was a pair of cut off jeans. The brown wolf looked at me and then moved away, with his teeth he picked up the pair of cut offs, and then trotted off deeper into the forest.

Was he coming back? A tear ran down my cheek at the thought of him running off and leaving me. Better yet, who was the wolf?

Then emerging from the forest, was the only person I cared to see at the moment. My protector, the brown wolf, my best friend, Quil. He was wearing the exact same pair of cut offs that Embry had shed on the forest floor.

He said nothing as he ran to me, he pulled me into a hug. I hugged back with all the might I could muster up. We both cried, right there standing in the middle of the forest. Finally he put me down and planted a kiss on my forehead. My skin was scorching where his lips had been.

We both stared into each one another's eyes, "You don't know how close that was."

I looked down, and then looked back up to him, "You have a lot of explaining to do, Quil."

"I know Claire Bear, I'm just waiting for you to run away from me screaming after what happened."

"I'm tougher than I look Quil, and nothing could ever tear me away from you, I don't care what you are."

"Come on squirt I have a lot to explain, we have to get over to Sam and Emily's, so could you just wait on all the questions you have until the whole pack is there?" he asked.

"Um yeah I guess I could, but you promise to let me know the secret?" He nodded. Then he leaned down and took me by surprise as he picked me up bridal style and began to run through the forest. We were back to the school track in a flash. He looked to make sure no one was around before running back to the doors I had emerged from earlier to meet Gavin. He scooped up my things all while keeping me in his arms the whole time. I held them when he handed them to me. I only wished I could stay in his arms forever.

But soon enough we reached the parking lot where Seth's car was parked, but Seth wasn't there. "Where's Seth at?" I asked worriedly. Quil chuckled a little.

"He phased when you weren't here within the hour, he got a little worried, and then that's when he heard me barrelling through the forest to get to you, and went to help but I already had it covered, I told him to stay in his wolf form and cover my patrol for me, I told him I needed his car to give you a ride." he replied.

"Okay, I didn't get most of that but you can explain to me later." I said a little lost.

"It's okay Claire, I will fully explain as soon as we get to Sam and Emily's. Oh and promise me one thing," he said.

"Okay," I replied.

"Don't ever go into the forest alone, or with some guy who turns out to be a psychopath."

I gave him a fake salute and he chuckled at me. "Well it looks like my assumptions about this Gavin guy were correct, he did turn out to be a psychopath just not the one I was expecting."

He opened the car door for me and helped me in. Closing the door he walked around to the other side getting in. The car started with a rumble and he turned the heater up to full blast. He took my hand in his large warm one before pulling out of the parking lot.

"You are freezing cold Claire," he said.

He drove like a maniac until we reached Sam and Emily's little blue cottage in the middle of the forest. When the car skidded to a stop he got out and came around to my side opening the door and scooping me up in his arms again.

Before he could get me to the front door Emily came rushing out of the house. "Oh my gosh is she okay??" she asked.

"A little shaken up and cold but she'll make it, she's tougher than she looks," Quil replied with a slight smile. He carried me through the door as I buried my head into his bare chest, relishing in the warmth.

Once inside Quil sat down with me on his lap on the couch in the living room while Emily rushed into my older cousin's room to get me some clothes. Finally she came back with a pair of sweats, a plain shirt, bra and underwear.

"Thanks Aunt Em, I'd give you a hug but I'm pretty soaked," I replied.

"Get in the shower now, Claire," she said in a motherly voice. And with that I made my way to the shower.

Once I got into the bathroom I closed the door and got out of the wet clothes I was in. I cut the shower on as hot as it would go and stepped in. I slowly defrosted in the shower and when I finally finished washing off, I cut it off and stepped out.

Luckily most of my older cousin's hand-me-downs fit me, and Emily saved all of them for me. She just so happened to have some my size here now. I mentally thanked my Aunt Emily. I toweled my body off and threw the clothes on and then stepped out. I bundled my wet clothes up and then took took them to Emily, she placed them in her laundry basket and headed off to the laundry room, then I came back to the living room where Quil was waiting on the couch for me, along with the rest of the pack.

There was no place to sit, so Quil patted his leg and I sat on his lap. It felt awkward, but it still felt so right. The warmth felt wonderful on my still cool skin. My uncle stared at Quil holding me and Quil just shrugged.

"Okay so now that we're all here right now, we can't start," Sam started.

"First of all, we need to explain some things to Claire here, I know that I have an order put up, but I'm removing the order so we can tell her now." he finished.

"Claire, how much do you know?" Quil asked me.

"Well Gavin..er the vampire told me that you guys were werewolves, and I saw you as a wolf, and I don't know why but for some reason Embry saw the need to strip in the middle of the woods and run away naked, um something called imprinting, you said you could talk to Seth when you were both wolves and you are really fast and really warm and you don't age at all," I finished taking a breath.

"Sorry about that Claire, it was kinda neccessary," Embry said. I laughed and nodded my head.

"You're very perceptive, Claire," my uncle said.

"Well you remember the bonfires right? All the legends we told?" Sam said. I nodded my head I remembered them all pretty well, but I had no clue that they were actually true before.

"Well like the vampire said, there are such things as werewolves, all of those legends are true, everyone sitting around you now in this room is a werewolf...except for Emily, but Quil will fill you in there."

"So...no silver bullets? No full moon?" I asked. Everyone in the room laughed, and a chorus of 'No's!' sounded.

"We do have several perks, we can hear, see, and smell very well, we're always hot, literally and not literally," Embry said winking at me, Quil glared at him. I blushed a little "Oh and not to mention we heal really fast, we run really fast, and we can communicate telepathically while we're in our wolf forms."

"Watch this," Embry got up and ran into the kitchen and emerged with a large butcher knife.

"NOT ON MY CARPET EMBRY!" Emily yelled at him. Embry sighed and pulled Seth off the couch and into the kitchen over the tile, we could all still see from the living room.

I watched in horror as Embry took the knife and cut open a large gash on Seth's arm. I screamed as a few drops of blood dribbled down his arm, I immediately got up and ran over to him.

"EMBRY YOU PSYCHO YOU CUT HIM!" I yelled in his face. He started laughing at me and then pointed to Seth's arm while depositing the knife in the sink. I looked over to Seth's arm and where there was once a bleeding gash, was now a long pink scar. Something that would have taken months for a normal human to heal.

"I'm fine Claire, see?" Seth pointed to his arm, "You won't even see the scar by tomorrow."

"Wow, this is beyond weird." I said to myself. I quickly returned to Quil's lap.

"And I must say to you Emily that I didn't even get one drop of blood on your tile." Embry said as he strode back into the living room with Seth.

"Um so what about your jobs, is that what you do, run around looking for vampires to kill? Like the original protectors?" I asked, and they all nodded.

"Okay so I have a couple more questions, what is imprinting? And how did Quil find me in the forest?" I asked.

"Quil is going to fill you in on imprinting," my uncle said while glancing over at Quil.

"As for the other question," Quil began, looking at me, "I was out patrolling since we had been having some problems with people disappearing lately, and us not being able to pick up the scent of the leech doing the crime, all we would find were small traces of scent leading up to dead corpses that he had drained." Everyone in the pack had shuddered.

"So apparently we figured out that the leech ..er Gavin had some special type of talent, some vampires can possess those, he could disguise his scent, as to where we couldn't smell him and get rid of him, he could almost fully conceal himself, up until the point where he made the kill, his control would slip there, and that's how we found the bodies. As for finding you, I was patrolling the area when I smelled you, I smelled you out in the forest in the very clearing that the other bodies had been found and I got really worried so I started running. Seth had also phased when you hadn't shown up, he too was worried. I ran as fast as I could there until I reached the clearing and I saw you there, and him about to bite you." Quil was shaking at the moment.

"That's when I attacked him and shredded him to pieces." he said.

"How exactly do you kill a vampire?" I asked.

"You shred them to pieces and light the mother on fire," Paul replied from the armchair he was sitting in.

"Okay one more question, why did I have to see Embry butt naked?" I blushed a little at the memory.

"Hey! It wasn't that bad was it?" Embry exclaimed. He turned around and was shaking his butt.

"Enough Embry," Quil growled hugging me closer.

"When we phase, we can't phase with our clothes on, if we do they're shredded to pieces, and when we phase back to being human we are completely naked, I went through a lot of shoes when I first started phasing," Jake said with a chuckle.

"Okay I think that's it...um can I talk to Quil about the imprinting thing now?" I asked.

"Yes you can, come on," he said as he picked us up from the couch and took a blanket that Emily offered him.

"Come on guys, there's food in the kitchen," Emily announced and the pack stampeded into the kitchen. Quil gave her a look saying 'thank you' for breaking up the awkward moment.

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**A/N: Wow a lot happened here...well that's all the updates for today...the next chapter will be up sometime this week...so drop me a review and lmk what you think! Thanks for reading! I'm planning on adding a few more chapters of pure fluff to this story before ending it. I love the fluffy stuff. **

**MIO**


	20. Imprint

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and sorry for the wait...band camp has been a little demanding of my time lately...so yeah...here's the next chapter!**

**Chapter 19: Imprint**

_"All the best love stories have on thing in common. You have to go against all odds to get there. It's the fight that makes it all worth it in the end."--Unknown_

**CLAIRE POV**

Quil and I walked out of my aunt and uncles' house together and through the door. Everyone else had headed into the kitchen to eat.

"Hey Quil?" I asked, suddenly curious about something.

"Yeah?"

"Is eating like a horse another werewolf perk?" I asked.

He laughed, a lot. "Yes it is."

When we finally reached his truck he helped me into the passenger seat of the car giving me the blanket he was carrying. I sat it folded on my lap. The rain which had been falling down pretty hard when we got home had now slackened. It was a mere sprinkle.

Quil climbed into the driver's side of his car and cut it on. Cutting the heater on full blast, for me, no doubt, he backed out of the driveway and started on the familiar road that led to First Beach. We didn't talk much on the way there, which I know made Quil nervous.

"Claire, are you sure you're ok with this?" he asked worriedly, I guess he was worried by my silence.

"Are you still waiting for me to run off screaming?" I asked. He nodded. "Well it's not going to happen, I like you whether you're a freak or not Quil, I don't care if you change into a gigantic wolf that howls at the moon, I care about the person inside of you, always remember that, you will always be the same Quil I remember before I knew your secret."

He smiled at my words and then the truck came to a halt as we pulled into a sand covered road leading down to the beach. Cutting the car off and looking towards me, Quil's brown eyes looked straight into mine, and then he stepped out of the car. Running over to my side, he opened my door and helped me down. Then taking the blanket from my hands he wrapped it around me to keep me warm. The wind around me was blowing hard, and the rain was but a light sprinkle.

He then took me by surprise, picking me up bridal style, "Sorry but it's easier this way if you don't mind."

"Not at all," I said, truly I wished it could be this way forever. He carried me across the beach until we reached a large peace of driftwood, the top of it was worn, as if it had been used as a bench. He carefully sat me down on one side of the bench and I situated myself to where I was straddling the piece of driftwood and the blanket was wrapped warmly around me.

Quil took a seat on the other side of the driftwood bench and sat straight forward, gazing out at the ocean. I turned and looked also. Gulls flew high above in the skies which were tinged a dark blue. The waves rolled and crashed roughly against the shore. The water was very choppy today, the waves all had white caps. Small puddles of sea water formed inside the rocks. Inside those tide pools colorful anemones swayed gracefully in the rise and fall of the incoming waves. Small fiddler crabs walked across the sandy shores.

Finally sighing I turned to Quil, "What is imprinting and why are you so nervous about telling me, how could it be worse than changing into a wolf?"

He looked at me, and then spoke, "It all began when you were two, I came over to Sam and Emilys' after a day of patrolling and saw you."

He continued, "Imprinting is something that is sacred to our pack, it's another one of those werewolf perks, your imprint is your other half, your soul mate. When you imprint it's like the planets and the universe is re-aligning, it's as if that person is the center of your universe now. It's like gravity, it's destiny, you're meant to be with that person, to protect them, to care for them, to love them."

My heart pounded wildly in my chest. I couldn't believe it.

"Like I said it all began when you were two, I saw you for the first time, standing there with Emily and my whole world just shifted, I fell hard...over a two year old, I caught a lot of crap from the guys but nothing else mattered to me but you. I fell in love with a two year old."

"Whoa wait, love love?" I asked getting a little creeped out. But I knew Quil would never hurt me.

"Noooooo," he started "It's different, imprinting isn't just like a romantic love, at least not for us, I had a really weird case, most of the other guys imprints were actually at the stage of romantic love, but not you, oh god no, of course not. When I first saw you, I knew that I loved you like you were my own child. When you turned seven I loved you like you were my sister. When you were ten I loved you as my best friend..."

I sighed in relief, and my eyes began to water with tears of joy, he actually loved me...love loved me.

"So you're not going to run away screaming yet?" he asked as he began to wipe my tears away.

"Are you sad about this?" he asked worried.

"Of course not, I already told you that I loved you for who you are. And of course I'm not sad...I'm just a little confused."

"Confused about what Claire Bear?" he asked.

"W-what does this mean now...you said you loved me as a best friend when I was ten, but what about now?" I asked.

"This I will leave up to you, but Claire I've watched you grow and change, and mature," he blushed a little as he said the last word "And if you want me, I will be there for you always, I can't tell you how much it broke me to see you with those roses from someone else, and that someone else wanted you, because truly they didn't deserve you, I don't even deserve you."

"So will...we be like Sam and Emily some day?" I asked. I held my breath as I waited for his answer. He was facing me sitting on the bench, our brown eyes locked together as his hand caressed my cheek. It was on fire, not only from the warmth of his hand but from the electric shock it gave me when he touched me.

"Only if you want me," he said softly.

"Forever." I replied leaning forward. I brushed my lips upon his and he seemed surprised at first at my boldness, but he eagerly responded and then pulled away. My favorite goofy grin was plastered on his face. My heart fluttered in my chest like the wings of the hummingbird.

"Thank you for making me the happiest man on this earth, I promise to love you forever," he said as he still held my chin in his large warm hand. We sat there for what felt like forever.

Our forever sitting on the beach was interrupted by the rising tide, which came in as cold waves tickling our bare feet that hung off the driftwood bench.

"Come on we better get out of here before we get wet," he said as he picked me up again. We sloshed through the ankle deep water and back onto the sand and back to the familiar truck.

He placed me in the passenger seat of the truck and then ran back around to the driver's side. As he climbed into the cab I turned to him, humor in my voice, "So this means we're an item now?" I asked with a wink.

He chuckled, "If you say so Claire Bear."

"I say so because I'm far too selfish and I refuse to share you with anyone else."

He started the car still laughing, but before he could turn around to head home, I turned to him, "Hey Quil, hey Quil, hey Quil!"

"Yes Claire?"

"I love you."

"I love you too...more than you know."

"I know."

**A/N: Awwwww! More fluff coming soon...so stay tuned, I'm only planning this to last for a few more chapters so...sorry! I gotta work on the band camp story when I'm done with this. Drop me a review and lmk what you think!**

**MIO**


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